Aristotle one of the greatest philosophers of all times was born at Stageira, Chakidice in 384 B.C. He spent his childhood in Pella, in the Macedonian Royal Court as his father Nicomachus was the personal doctor and advisor of Κing Amyntas II, father of Macedonia’s King Philip II. His mother, Faistida, came from Chalkis of Euboea.. He raised in a wealthy family until his parents died and Proxenus, a friend of his father nurtured him. He was sent to Athens in 367 BC to study at the Academy of Plato. Years later and along with his teacher, laid the foundations of Western philosophy and science.At a later time, King Philip II hired him as a tutor for his son Alexander, who later would grow up to be Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great said of Aristotle: “I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well’. He stayed in Macedonia until 335/334 B.C.After Plato died, Aristotle’s friend Hermias, king of Assos in Mysia, invited Aristotle to court. During hisstay in Mysia, Aristotle met and married his first wife, Pythias.. Together, the couple had a daughter, Pythias, named after her mother. He returned to Athens and he established an official school, the Lyceum. This school was also named “Peripatetic Academy” and its members “Peripatetics” mainly due to the fact that they used to walk while discussing. It is said that the Lyceum members were increased to 2.000. During that period of time, he wrote some important pieces on philosophy, morality, biology and psychology. He almost involved in all areas of science such as metaphysics, physics, politics, literature and aesthetics. At the same time he began to classify the sciences and the researches. For example, he categorized two types of philosophers. The first category was the natural philosophers who study the nature as it was Thales and Anaximander and the second was them who studied gods and myths as Homer and Hesiod. An important piece of his work was also the creation of the first large organized library, which was a model for those of Alexandria’s and Pergamon’s. His work is characterized by searching the truth or the logic behind everything. A landmark of his work, used from all the modern scientists, is the Aristotle’s method of questioning and analyzing which literally formed the basis of the scientific method. He died by a stomach illness in Chalkis of Euboea where he was settled in 323 BC, a year before his death to escape prosecution under charges of impiety.
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According to the theories of ancient Greek scientists the world is made of 4 natural elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth. Aristotle added a 5th element, ether, which he named Quintessence (fifth essence). This element represents the secret of worldly and human existence. it represents the ageless, the imperishable, it is what holds the elements together.
2400 years after his birth, UNESCO honored his work and declared the years 2016 and 2017 as “Aristotle Anniversary Years” with the anticipation that his views and thinking will enhance world unity and peace.
Aristotle famous quotations
Love is composed of single soul inhabiting two bodies.
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
You will never do anything in the world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
Hope is a waking dream.
Quality is not an act, it is a habit.
A friend to all is a friend to none.
Happiness depends upon ourselves.
At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst.
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.
The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control, and outnumbers both of the other classes.
