Philosopher's contemplation continuation p9 Aristotle

Be a free thinker and don't accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in. Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. 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. The more you know, the more you know you don't know. The most important relationship we can all have is the one you have with yourself, the most important journey you can take is one of self-discovery. To know yourself, you must spend time with yourself, you must not be afraid to be alone. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. Life is only meaningful when we are striving for a goal . It is our choice of good or evil that determines our character, not our opinion about good or evil. Our problem is not that we aim too high and miss, but that we aim too low and hit. Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing. We are what we repeatedly do... excellence, therefore, isn't just an act, but a habit and life isn't just a series of events, but an ongoing process of self-definition. A fool contributes nothing worth hearing and takes offense at everything. Courage is the first virtue that makes all other virtues possible. The weak are always anxious for justice and equality. The strong pay no heed to either. To appreciate the beauty of a snow flake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold. The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal. Nature creates nothing without a purpose. The hardest victory is the victory over self. We can't learn without pain. Doubt is the beginning of wisdom. Think as the wise men think, but talk like the simple people do. It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think. You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. A friend of everyone is a friend of no one. Character is revealed through action. Tyrants preserve themselves by sowing fear and mistrust among the citizens by means of spies, by distracting them with foreign wars, by eliminating men of spirit who might lead a revolution, by humbling the people, and making them incapable of decisive action. Only an armed people can be truly free. Only an unarmed people can ever be enslaved. Happiness is a quality of the soul...not a function of one's material circumstances. Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyranny. At the intersection where your gifts, talents, and abilities meet a human need; therein you will discover your purpose. The proof that you know something is that you are able to teach it