This article was last updated on February 16, 2015
One of the smartest men who has ever lived Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher. Aristotle spent a good portion of his life studying, teaching and writing, he was a student of Plato, and teacher of Alexander The Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics and much more. Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C yet his words of wisdom are still impacting many lives today 2,337 years after his death.
7 Must Read Life Lessons By Aristotle
1. “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”
Figuring out and understanding who you are from 3rd person perspective is the most important thing you can figure out in your lifetime. When we become aware of who we are, your strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes and how you feel and think we have become empowered to the point of achieving anything in life that we want. Most simply you understand why you do what is you do and understanding this we can make the necessary changes in all aspects of life.
2. “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
We can entertain other people’s perspectives by listening and soaking in their opinions and we don’t have to accept their opinion as our own. It is extremely important to understand that we don’t know everything in life and we never will. It’s alright to be a bit biased because we must stand firm about something. It is also important to have an open mind and be respectful about other people’s opinions. We don’t have to accept them and sometimes other people may change our perspectives or refine them a little bit more.
3. “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
This is a key component to any great success achieved is patients. Patience is tough, it can be downright challenging. The longer the process, the longer the journey and the harder we work without quitting the sweeter the fruit of success will be. Stay patient, stay consistent.
4. “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
Anytime you’re choosing a career or choosing a journey to go after your dreams let it be with something that you truly love to do. Something you enjoy doing on a regular basis without thinking twice about it. If you choose a career that you love then you will be more enthusiastic about making an excellent product or service.
5. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”
We much choose to be optimistic in all tragedies in our lives. Now assuming someone passes away this is perfectly alright to let our emotions flow freely. But outside of that even in our darkest moments we can choose to see them as the growth of ourselves which has made us stronger the next tough moments that will occur. This is another way of saying that we choose happiness over choosing happiness in misery.
6. “To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.”
Anytime we open are mouths to give an opinion or in the midst of achieving greatness we are going to have critics, that’s just the way it is. They are just a part of humans being different, people look at things different, jealousy kicks in or just plain doubters are all around the world. If we choose to stay away in fear of others than we cannot achieve greatness. We must learn to embrace the criticism for it will make us stronger, make us wiser and is a part of the journey towards our Self-Fulfillment.
7. “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”
Regardless of how we think or feel our character, our standard, values and destiny is a product of the choices that we make. Excellence is does not happen from becoming lucky and is not an accident. It is established through by enthusiasm (The right attitude), the right amount of effort, education and lots of action.
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