Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
AristotleRead
Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Wealth disparity leads to extremes in governance, either of which can lead to tyranny.
Aristotle suggests that in a society where there is a stark contrast between the wealthy and those in poverty, one of two outcomes will emerge: a form of extreme democracy where the poor may overpower the rich, or a shift towards oligarchy or despotism, where power is concentrated in the hands of a few. This quote reflects on the consequences of social and economic inequalities and how they can shape political structures.
Themes
WealthDemocracyOligarchyDespotismEqualityPolitics
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a political debate to discuss the implications of wealth inequality.
More from Aristotle
All quotes βThose 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
Since the time of Homer every European, in what he could say about the Orient, was a racist, an imperialist, and almost totally ethnocentric.
Edward SaidRead
The chief danger about Paris is that it is such a strong stimulant.
T. S. EliotRead
Being both more systematically brutal than chimps and more empathetic than _x000D_ bonobos, we are by far the most bipolar ape. Our societies are never completely peaceful, never completely competitive, never ruled by sheer selfishness, and never perfectly moral.
Frans De WaalRead
Everything with me is either worship and passion or pity and understanding. I hate rarely, though when I hate. I hate murderously.
Anais NinRead
Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.
Susanna KaysenRead
The Judge does not make the law. It is people that make the law. Therefore if a law is unjust, and if the Judge judges according to the law, that is justice, even if it is not just.
Alan PatonRead