QuoteProject
A state is not a mere society, having a common place, established for the prevention of mutual crime and for the sake of exchange. Political society exists for the sake of noble actions, and not mere companionship.
Aristotle
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes that a political state is meant for achieving noble actions rather than just preventing crime or facilitating trade.

In this quote, Aristotle articulates the purpose of a political state, highlighting that its existence transcends the mere functionality of society as a space for reducing crime and engaging in economic exchange. Instead, he argues that the essence of political society lies in its ability to promote virtuous actions and the common good, suggesting that genuine harmony and progress within a community are rooted in the pursuit of ethical and noble ideals.

Themes

Political SocietyNoble ActionsCommon GoodVirtueAristotle

In practice

Example use cases

In a lecture on political philosophy, this quote could be used to underline the importance of ethics in governance.

More from Aristotle

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
AristotleRead
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

In our day we don't allow a hundred and thirty years to elapse between glimpses of a marvel. If somebody should discover a creek in the county next to the one that the North Pole is in, Europe and America would start fifteen costly expeditions thither; one to explore the creek, and the other fourteen to hunt for each other.
Mark TwainRead
By reshaping or decorating our outer selves, we express our inner sense of self: 'I like that' becomes 'I'm like that.'
Virginia PostrelRead
The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.
John Quincy AdamsRead
He had grown up in a country run by politicians who sent the pilots to man the bombers to kill the babies to make the world safer for children to grow up in.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Cynicism and naivety lie cheek by jowl in the American imagination; if the United States is one of the most venal nations on Earth, it is also one of the most earnestly idealistic.
Terry EagletonRead
There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.