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Equity Is That Idea Of Justice Which Contravenes The Written Law.
-Aristotle
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Equity Is That Idea

Aristotle
...
Equity Is That Idea Of Justice Which Contravenes The Written Law.

Understanding the Quote: "equity is that idea of justice which contravenes the written law...."

This quote by Aristotle reflects deeply on the theme of law. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Law, Ideas, Justice, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Aristotle interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Aristotle

Aristotle is celebrated for insightful thoughts on law and ideas. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Law
Ideas
Justice
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There Is More Evidence To Prove That Saltness [of The Sea] Is Due To The Admixture Of Some Substance, Besides That Which We Have Adduced. Make A Vessel Of Wax And Put It In The Sea, Fastening Its Mouth In Such A Way As To Prevent Any Water Getting In. Then The Water That Percolates Through The Wax Sides Of The Vessel Is Sweet, The Earthy Stuff, The Admixture Of Which Makes The Water Salt, Being Separated Off As It Were By A Filter.
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The Intention Makes The Crime.
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Have A Definite, Clear, Practical Ideal - A Goal, An Objective.
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Philosophical
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Writing
Speak
Easy
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He Who Can Be, And Therefore Is, Another's, And He Who Participates In Reason Enough To Apprehend, But Not To Have, Is A Slave By Nature.
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Reason
Enough
The Activity Of Happiness Must Occupy An Entire Lifetime; For One Swallow Does Not A Summer Make.
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Summer
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If There Is Any Kind Of Animal Which Is Female And Has No Male Separate From It, It Is Possible That This May Generate A Young One From Itself. No Instance Of This Worthy Of Any Credit Has Been Observed Up To The Present At Any Rate, But One Case In The Class Of Fishes Makes Us Hesitate. No Male Of The So-called Erythrinus Has Ever Yet Been Seen, But Females, And Specimens Full Of Roe, Have Been Seen. Of This, However, We Have As Yet No Proof Worthy Of Credit.
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For The More Limited, If Adequate, Is Always Preferable.
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Thou Wilt Find Rest From Vain Fancies If Thou Doest Every Act In Life As Though It Were Thy Last.
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He Who Is Unable To Live In Society, Or Who Has No Need Because He Is Sufficient For Himself, Must Be Either A Beast Or A God.
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We Give Up Leisure In Order That We May Have Leisure, Just As We Go To War In Order That We May Have Peace.
Peace
Giving Up
War
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Law
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Judging
If The Consequences Are The Same It Is Always Better To Assume The More Limited Antecedent, Since In Things Of Nature The Limited, As Being Better, Is Sure To Be Found, Wherever Possible, Rather Than The Unlimited.
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Found
The Investigation Of The Truth Is In One Way Hard, In Another Easy. An Indication Of This Is Found In The Fact That No One Is Able To Attain The Truth Adequately, While, On The Other Hand, No One Fails Entirely, But Everyone Says Something True About The Nature Of All Things, And While Individually They Contribute Little Or Nothing To The Truth, By The Union Of All A Considerable Amount Is Amassed.
Hands
Unions
Littles
Greatness Of Spirit Is To Bear Finely Both Good Fourtune And Bad, Honor And Disgrace, And Not To Think Highly Of Luxury Or Attention Or Power Or Victories In Contests, And To Possess A Certain Depth And Magnitude Of Spirit.
Greatness
Thinking
Luxury
Bring Your Desires Down To Your Present Means. Increase Them Only When Your Increased Means Permit.
Mean
Desire
Permit
People Become House Builders Through Building Houses, Harp Players Through Playing The Harp. We Grow To Be Just By Doing Things Which Are Just.
Player
Building Houses
People
A Sense Is What Has The Power Of Receiving Into Itself The Sensible Forms Of Things Without The Matter, In The Way In Which A Piece Of Wax Takes On The Impress Of A Signet-ring Without The Iron Or Gold.
Iron
Gold
Pieces
True Happiness Comes From Gaining Insight And Growing Into Your Best Possible Self. Otherwise All You're Having Is Immediate Gratification Pleasure, Which Is Fleeting And Doesn't Grow You As A Person.
Self
Fleeting
Growing
Happiness Involves Engagement In Activities That Promote One's Highest Potentials.
Engagement
Activity
Highest
Where Perception Is, There Also Are Pain And Pleasure, And Where These Are, There, Of Necessity, Is Desire.
Pain
Perception
Desire
The Honors And Rewards Fall To Those Who Show Their Good Qualities In Action.
Inspirational
Spiritual
Fall
Now The Soul Of Man Is Divided Into Two Parts, One Of Which Has A Rational Principle In Itself, And The Other, Not Having A Rational Principle In Itself, Is Able To Obey Such A Principle. And We Call A Man In Any Way Good Because He Has The Virtues Of These Two Parts.
Men
Two
Soul
For The Lesser Evil Is Reckoned A Good In Comparison With The Greater Evil, Since The Lesser Evil Is Rather To Be Chosen Than The Greater. .
Evil
Chosen
Greater
So It Is Clear That The Search For What Is Just Is A Search For The Mean; For The Law Is The Mean.
Mean
Law
Politics
Happiness Does Not Consist In Pastimes And Amusements But In Virtuous Activities.
Inspirational
Inspiring
Motivation
It Is Not Always The Same Thing To Be A Good Man And A Good Citizen.
Motivation
Character
Patriotic
In Order To Be Effective You Need Not Only Virtue But Also Mental Strength.
Attachment
Order
Needs
It Is Of The Nature Of Desire Not To Be Satisfied, And Most Men Live Only For The Gratification Of It.
Men
Desire
Sisyphus
The Habits We Form From Childhood Make No Small Difference, But Rather They Make All The Difference.
Education
Teaching
Differences
Love Is The Cause Of Unity In All Things.
Love
Unity
Causes
Some Things The Legislator Must Find Ready To His Hand In A State, Others He Must Provide. And Therefore We Can Only Say: May Our State Be Constituted In Such A Manner As To Be Blessed With The Goods Of Which Fortune Disposes (for We Acknowledge Her Power): Whereas Virtue And Goodness In The State Are Not A Matter Of Chance But The Result Of Knowledge And Purpose. A City Can Be Virtuous Only When The Citizens Who Have A Share In The Government Are Virtuous, And In Our State All The Citizens Share In The Government.
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Indeed, We May Go Further And Assert That Anyone Who Does Not Delight In Fine Actions Is Not Even A Good Man.
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Knowing What Is Right Does Not Make A Sagacious Man.
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Men
Knowing
The Secret To Humor Is Surprise.
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Humor
Secret Love
Find The Good. Seek The Unity. Ignore The Divisions Among Us.
Unity
Division
But Nothing Is Yet Clear On The Subject Of The Intellect And The Contemplative Faculty. However, It Seems To Be Another Kind Of Soul, And This Alone Admits Of Being Separated, As That Which Is Eternal From That Which Is Perishable, While It Is Clear From These Remarks That The Other Parts Of The Soul Are Not Separable, As Some Assert Them To Be, Though It Is Obvious That They Are Conceptually Distinct.
Soul
Kind
Faculty
We Make War That We May Live In Peace.
Strength
Veterans Day
Peace
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.
Journey
Important Relationships
Knowing
For Even They Who Compose Treatises Of Medicine Or Natural Philosophy In Verse Are Denominated Poets: Yet Homer And Empedocles Have Nothing In Common Except Their Metre; The Former, Therefore, Justly Merits The Name Of The Poet; While The Other Should Rather Be Called A Physiologist Than A Poet.
Philosophy
Names
Medicine
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.
Motivational
Wise
Intelligent
Man's Best Friend Is One Who Wishes Well To The Object Of His Wish For His Sake, Even If No One Is To Know Of It.
Real
Men
Wish
In The Works Of Nature, Purpose, Not Accident, Is The Main Thing.
Purpose
Accidents
Money Is A Guarantee That We May Have What We Want In The Future. Though We Need Nothing At The Moment It Insures The Possibility Of Satisfying A New Desire When It Arises.
Money
Guarantees That
Desire
There Is Simple Ignorance, Which Is The Source Of Lighter Offenses, And Double Ignorance, Which Is Accompanied By A Conceit Of Wisdom.
Ignorance
Simple
Source
That Which Is In Locomotion Must Arrive At The Half-way Stage Before It Arrives At The Goal.
Distance
Goal
Half
Poetry Demands A Man With A Special Gift For It, Or Else One With A Touch Of Madness In Him.
Men
Special
Demand
Even The Best Of Men In Authority Are Liable To Be Corrupted By Passion. We May Conclude Then That The Law Is Reason Without Passion, And It Is Therefore Preferable To Any Individual.
Passion
Men
Law
Now If There Is Any Gift Of The Gods To Men, It Is Reasonable That Happiness Should Be God-given, And Most Surely God-given Of All Human Things Inasmuch As It Is The Best. But This Question Would Perhaps Be More Appropriate To Another Inquiry; Happiness Seems, However, Even If It Is Not God-sent But Comes As A Result Of Virtue And Some Process Of Learning And Training, To Be Among The Most God-like Things; For That Which Is The Prize And End Of Virtue Seems To Be The Best Thing In The World, And Something God-like And Blessed.
Happiness
Blessed
Men
The Government Of Freemen Is Nobler And Implies More Virtue Than Despotic Government. Neither Is A City To Be Deemed Happy Or A Legislator To Be Praised Because He Trains His Citizens To Conquer And Obtain Dominion Over Their Neighbors, For There Is Great Evil In This.
Government
Cities
Evil
For Through Wondering Human Beings Now And In The Beginning Have Been Led To Philosophizing.
Wonder
Humans
Has Beens
It Is Our Actions And The Soul's Active Exercise Of Its Functions That We Posit (as Being Happiness).
Happiness
Exercise
Soul
For Suppose That Every Tool We Had Could Perform Its Task, Either At Our Bidding Or Itself Perceiving The Need, And If-like The Statues Made By Dædalus Or The Tripods Of Hephæstus, Of Which The Poet Says That "self-moved They Enter The Assembly Of The Gods" - Shuttles In A Loom Could Fly To And Fro And A Plectrum Play A Lyre All Self-moved, Then Master-craftsmen Would Have No Need Of Servants Nor Masters Of Slaves.
Self
Play
Bidding
If Everything When It Occupies An Equal Space Is At Rest, And If That Which Is In Locomotion Is Always Occupying Such A Space At Any Moment, The Flying Arrow Is Therefore Motionless.
Arrows
Space
Flying
Every Man Should Be Responsible To Others, Nor Should Any One Be Allowed To Do Just As He Pleases; For Where Absolute Freedom Is Allowed, There Is Nothing To Restrain The Evil Which Is Inherent In Every Man.
Men
Evil
Human Nature
The Young Are Permanently In A State Resembling Intoxication.
Time
Philosophical
Youth
What Is The Highest Good In All Matters Of Action? To The Name, There Is Almost Complete Agreement; For Uneducated And Educated Alike Call It Happiness, And Make Happiness Identical With The Good Life And Successful Living. They Disagree, However, About The Meaning Of Happiness.
Good Life
Successful
Agreement
We Are Better Able To Study Our Neighbours Than Ourselves, And Their Actions Than Our Own.
Able
Action
Study
Wit Is Cultured Insolence.
Humor
Insolence
Wit
The Mass Of Mankind Are Evidently Slavish In Their Tastes, Preferring A Life Suitable To Beasts.
Taste
Beast
Mass
It Is No Part Of A Physician's Business To Use Either Persuasion Or Compulsion Upon The Patients.
Science
Physicians
Use
Great And Frequent Reverses Can Crush And Mar Our Bliss Both By The Pain They Cause And By The Hindrance They Offer To Many Activities. Yet Nevertheless Even In Adversity Nobility Shines Through, When A Man Endures Repeated And Severe Misfortune With Patience, Not Owing To Insensibility But From Generosity And Greatness Of Soul.
Crush
Pain
Adversity
He Who Confers A Benefit On Anyone Loves Him Better Than He Is Beloved.
Benefits
Beloved
Philanthropy
Yet The True Friend Of The People Should See That They Be Not Too Poor, For Extreme Povery Lowers The Character Of The Democracy; Measures Therefore Should Be Taken Which Will Give Them Lasting Prosperity; And As This Is Equally The Interest Of All Classes, The Proceeds Of The Public Revenues Should Be Accumulated And Distributed Among Its Poor, If Possible, In Such Quantities As May Enable Them To Purchase A Little Farm, Or, At Any Rate, Make A Beginning In Trade Or Husbandry.
True Friend
Taken
Character
If Then It Be Possible That One Contrary Should Exist, Or Be Called Into Existence, The Other Contrary Will Also Appear To Be Possible.
Should
Existence
If Then
It Is Clear That Those Constitutions Which Aim At The Common Good Are Right, As Being In Accord With Absolute Justice; While Those Which Aim Only At The Good Of The Rulers Are Wrong.
Justice
Political
Common
The Soul Becomes Prudent By Sitting And Being Quiet.
Soul
Sitting
Prudent
To Know What Virtue Is Is Not Enough; We Must Endeavor To Possess And To Practice It, Or In Some Other Manner Actually Ourselves To Become Good.
Practice
Virtue
Enough
For Those Who Possess And Can Wield Arms Are In A Position To Decide Whether The Constitution Is To Continue Or Not
Arms
Constitution
Position
Neglect Of An Effective Birth Control Policy Is A Never-failing Source Of Poverty Which, In Turn, Is The Parent Of Revolution And Crime.
Parent
Birth Control
Poverty
Prosperity Makes Friends And Adversity Tries Them. A True Friend Is One Soul In Two Bodies
True Friend
Inspiration
Adversity
Happiness Is Self-connectedness.
Self
Connectedness
The Senses Are Gateways To The Intelligence. There Is Nothing In The Intelligence Which Did Not First Pass Through The Senses.
Firsts
Gateways
Senses
At His Best, Man Is The Noblest Of All Animals; Separated From Law And Justice He Is The Worst.
Philosophy
Animal
Men
Happiness Does Not Lie In Amusement; It Would Be Strange If One Were To Take Trouble And Suffer Hardship All One's Life In Order To Amuse Oneself.
Happiness
Lying
Order
For Man, When Perfected, Is The Best Of Animals, But, When Separated From Law And Justice, He Is The Worst Of All; Since Armed Injustice Is The More Dangerous, And He Is Equipped At Birth With The Arms Of Intelligence And With Moral Qualities Which He May Use For The Worst Ends. Wherefore, If He Have Not Virtue, He Is The Most Unholy And The Most Savage Of Animals, And The Most Full Of Lust And Gluttony. But Justice Is The Bond Of Men In States, And The Administration Of Justice, Which Is The Determination Of What Is Just, Is The Principle Of Order In Political Society.
Determination
Animal
Men
In The Laws It Is Maintained That The Best Constitution Is Made Up Of Democracy And Tyranny, Which Are Either Not Constitutions At All, Or Are The Worst Of All. But They Are Nearer The Truth Who Combine Many Forms; For The Constitution Is Better Which Is Made Up Of More Numerous Elements. The Constitution Proposed In The Laws Has No Element Of Monarchy At All; It Is Nothing But Oligarchy And Democracy, Leaning Rather To Oligarchy.
Law
Government
Democracy
If Then, As We Say, Good Craftsmen Look To The Mean As They Work, And If Virtue, Like Nature, Is More Accurate And Better Than Any Form Of Art, It Will Follow That Virtue Has The Quality Of Hitting The Mean. I Refer To Moral Virtue [not Intellectual], For This Is Concerned With Emotions And Actions, In Which One Can Have Excess Or Deficiency Or A Due Mean.
Art
Mean
Intellectual
Friends Enhance Our Ability To Think And Act.
Thinking
Ability
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