Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans are inherently social beings who thrive in communities, and those who reject society are considered unnatural.
Aristotle's quote emphasizes the intrinsic social nature of humans, suggesting that being part of a community is a fundamental aspect of human existence. He argues that individuals who shun society either exhibit a lower level of humanity, akin to beasts, or an elevated state of being, akin to gods. This highlights the importance of social interaction and communal life in shaping one's identity and role within the human experience.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of community involvement, this quote can illustrate the necessity of social connections.
More from Aristotle
All quotes →Those who cannot bravely face danger are the slaves of their attackers.
For often, when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream.
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
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.
The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
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Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster. This is the whole of the story and we might have left it at that had there not been profit and pleasure in the telling; and although there is plenty of space on a gravestone to contain, bound in moss, the abridged version of a man's life, detail is always welcome.
If we are true Christians, we must not expect everything smooth in our journey to heaven. We must count it no strange thing, if we have to endure sicknesses, losses, bereavements, and disappointments, just like other men. Free pardon and full forgiveness, grace along the way, and glory at the endall this our Savior has promised to give. But He has never promised that we shall have no afflictions.
I'm a religious woman. And I feel I have responsibility. I have no modesty at all. I'm even afraid of it - it's a learned affectation and it's just stuck on me like decals. Now I pray for humility because that comes from inside out.
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Philosophers, as things now stand, are all too fond of offering criticism from on high instead of studying and understanding things from within.