Aristides Quintilianus Quotes
Aristides Quintilianus was a Greek philosophical music theorist of late antiquity, the author of the most extensive surviving ancient treatise on music, On Music in three books, in which the technical theory of harmonics, rhythm, and meter is set within a Neoplatonic philosophical anthropology. His three books treat respectively the technical, the political-ethical, and the theological dimensions of music, and culminate in a sustained argument for the moral and contemplative power of music in shaping the human soul. The quotes below are attributed to Aristides Quintilianus, organized by topic.
Aristides Quintilianus on God
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Attributed to Aristides Quintilianus:
“Music is the divine ordering principle of the soul as it is of the cosmos.”
Aristides Quintilianus on Mind
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Attributed to Aristides Quintilianus:
“He who has not studied music has not yet studied himself.”
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Attributed to Aristides Quintilianus:
“The harmonic ratios that please the ear also please the soul; the soul is harmonic.”
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Attributed to Aristides Quintilianus:
“Where the right notes meet the right words, the soul ascends.”
Aristides Quintilianus on Politics
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Attributed to Aristides Quintilianus:
“Music shapes the city as the laws shape the city; both are forms of education.”