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The wise man must not be ordered but must order, and he must not obey another, but the less wise must obey him.

οὐ γὰρ δεῖν ἐπιτάττεσθαι τὸν σοφὸν ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιτάττειν, καὶ οὐ τοῦτον ἑτέρῳ πείθεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τούτῳ τὸν ἧττον σοφόν.

Original text (Ancient Greek)

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Notes from Wikiquote

982a.15, W. Ross, trans., The Basic Works of Aristotle (2001), p. 691.

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Character

More quotes by Aristotle

That which is desirable on its own account and for the sake of knowing it is more of the nature of wisdom than that which is desirable on account of its results.

But he who neither thinks for himself, nor lays to heart another's wisdom, this is a useless man.’

The best friend is he that, when he wishes a person's good, wishes it for that person's own sake.

When people are friends, they have no need of justice, but when they are just, they need friendship in addition.

We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one.

Aristotle's Psychology as translated by E. Wallace (1882)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Aristotle (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.