Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
AristotleRead
Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear and pity. Such an effect is best produced when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect is heightened when, at the same time, they follow as cause and effect. The tragic wonder will then be great than if they happened of themselves or by accident; for even coincidences are most striking when they have an air of design.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Aristotle suggests that tragedy effectively evokes fear and pity by imitating a complete action, particularly when the events unfold unexpectedly with a sense of a causal relationship.
In this quote, Aristotle delves into the nature of tragedy in dramatic art, positing that a well-crafted tragic narrative generates a powerful emotional response by imitating a complete action that evokes fear and pity. He emphasizes that the impact of tragedy is intensified when the unfolding events are unexpected and appear to follow a logical cause-and-effect relationship, suggesting that resonance in tragedy arises from a perceived design, thus heightening the audience's emotional engagement.
Themes
TragedyFearPityCause And EffectArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the effectiveness of storytelling in film, one could use this quote to highlight how tragedy impacts audiences.
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
they go and set up free-will with the heathen philosophers and say that a man's free will is the cause why God chooseth and not another, contrary to all scriptures.
William TyndaleRead
As he was valiant, I honour him. But as he was ambitious, I slew him.
William ShakespeareRead
A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows.
Mark TwainRead
In seeking comfort, we generally find a quiet corner in life where there is a minimum of conflict, and then we are afraid to step out of that seclusion.
Jiddu KrishnamurtiRead
When you look more generally at life on Earth, you find that it is all the same kind of life. There are not many different kinds; there's only one kind. It uses about fifty fundamental biological building blocks, organic molecules.
Carl SaganRead
I am no longer the wave of consciousness thinking itself separated from the sea of cosmic consciousness. I am the ocean of Spirit that has become the wave of human life.
Paramahansa YoganandaRead