Miskawayh Quotes
Ahmad ibn Muhammad Miskawayh was a Persian Islamic philosopher, historian, and bureaucrat at the Buyid court in Baghdad, and the most important Islamic moral philosopher between al-Razi and al-Ghazali. His Tahdhib al-Akhlaq, The Refinement of Character, translated and synthesized Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Galen, and Neoplatonic ethical writings into a single Islamic system of virtue ethics, in which character is formed by habit toward a mean of action proper to the rational soul. The quotes below are attributed to Miskawayh, organized by topic.
Miskawayh on Justice
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Attributed to Miskawayh:
“Justice is the virtue that holds all the others together.”
Miskawayh on Knowledge
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Attributed to Miskawayh:
“The wisdom of the Greeks, the Persians, and the Indians is one wisdom in many languages.”
Miskawayh on Love
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Attributed to Miskawayh:
“Friendship is the highest political relation, and the most personal as well.”
Miskawayh on Mind
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Attributed to Miskawayh:
“He who refines his character makes the soul a fitting dwelling for reason.”
Miskawayh on Virtue
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Attributed to Miskawayh:
“Character is shaped by habit; habit is shaped by deliberate choice.”