Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
AristotleRead
If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it... then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that if all tools could perform their intended functions autonomously, there would be no need for skilled workers or subservient laborers.
Aristotle's quote reflects on the nature of labor and the division of work in society. It implies that the capability of tools and automation has a direct correlation with the roles and hierarchies that exist among people. Should tools and machines advance to a point where they could accomplish tasks without human intervention, the need for skilled workers and lower classes would diminish, leading to a rethinking of labor, expertise, and social structure.
Themes
ToolsLaborAutomationSocietyWork
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the impact of automation on jobs, this quote could illustrate the potential consequences of advanced technology on labor.
More from Aristotle
All quotes →Those who cannot bravely face danger are the slaves of their attackers.
AristotleRead
For often, when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream.
AristotleRead
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
AristotleRead
But if nothing but soul, or in soul mind, is qualified to count, it is impossible for there to be time unless there is soul, but only that of which time is an attribute, i.e. if change can exist without soul.
AristotleRead
The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
AristotleRead
Similar quotes
Neutrality is a negative word. It does not express what America ought to feel. We are not trying to keep out of trouble; we are trying to preserve the foundations on which peace may be rebuilt.
Woodrow WilsonRead
In bodies moved, the motion is received, increased, diminished, or lost, according to the relations of the quantity of matter and velocity; each diversity is uniformity, each change is constancy.
MontesquieuRead
Most religions live from a narrative that shapes their relationship with the divine other, God or the gods, and with the human other, the stranger.
Timothy RadcliffeRead
Our national myths often exaggerate the role of the individual heroes and understate the importance of collective effort.
Robert D. PutnamRead
How do most people live without any thought? There are many people in the world,--you must have noticed them in the street,--how do they live? How do they get strength to put on their clothes in the morning?
Emily DickinsonRead
I want to escape from myself. For when I do start up and stare myself seedily in the face, as happens to be my case at present, my blankness is inconceivable--indescribable--my misery amazing.
Charles DickensRead