Janet D'Agostino. age 1$. Bronx. N. .Y

Who was Aristotle?

Scholars rate him among the most intelligent men of history. And that great intelligence sprang from a quality we all have ‑ curiosity. Aristotle was interested in just about everything. He taught his pupils to exercise their curiosity and enjoy as many interests as possible. There is beauty to enjoy. he believed. in every form of life.

Aristotle was first and last a teacher. His father was court physician to the father of Philip It of ancient Macedon. As a young man he went to Athens. For twenty years he studied there with Plato. When that old philosopher died. Aristotle retired with friends to continue his thinking on the slopes of historic Mount Ids. But not for long.

Philip of Macedon entrusted Aristotle with a right royal pupil. For seven yearn. he was the tutor of the young Alexander the Great.  Always interested in government; the great teacher hated the tyranny of Persia. This may well have enflamed his pupil to later conquer the vast Persian empire.

Aristotle's work in Macedon was done when Alexander as king moved to conquer the known vo rld. The royal pupil did not forget his teacher. He often sent him back specimens from his travels. interesting shells. stones. and animals. He also gave money for Aristotle to found his own school in Athens.

Like all great teachers. Aristotle loved to learn along with‑his pupils. Together they observed and classified all manner of things. The school museum was full of fascinating specimens. Teacher and pupil‑friends would puzzle and chat over this and that as they walked under the trees. Their school was called The Peripatetic. or walking. School. from this strolling up and down.

Aristotle wrote on countless subjects ‑ botany. books. stars. ethics. government and even psychology. But there was far more than facts and observations to his teaching. Underlying everything is a strong yet gentle love of goodness and beauty. This is most marked in his ideas on ethics and government.

He believed that no ruler should be above the law of the land. He believed that the good ruler served. rather than used his subjects. He believed that people had a right to elect their rulers and call them to account. And. in a machineless slave‑state. he believed in the emancipation of slaves.

The world discussed and thrilled to the noble ideas of Aristotle. History forgot and remembered him again and again. As the world improved others came up with his same ideas. Many have been startled to learn that their ideas of truth and goodness were stated by Aristotle of ancient Greece.

Aristotle was an orderly man and a bit of a dandy. He planned his life to have time for everything. There was a time for work – observing,  sorting, classifying and writing. There was time for sport and healthy amusement. And there was a special time for leisured thinking. He loved this time best of all, for then he trained himself to listen to the quiet thoughts of his noble conscience.

The great teacher left Athens when Alexander died. He returned to the Aegean Isle. of Euboeap his mother's home. He died there at the age of 62 in the year 322 B.C. But much of what he said and believed can never die. A great deal of it tallies with what your own best conscience has to say.