Alexander the Great (1956)

Barry Jones: Aristotle

Quotes 

• Aristotle : Do you know how vast the Persian Empire is?

  Alexander : From the Nile, to the Indus... from Samarkand, to Babylon.

  Aristotle : And beyond. Do you know how many different people live there?

  Alexander : By heart. Carians, Armenians, Jews, Parthians, Egyptians... I know their customs and their gods.

  Aristotle : Yes. But this is more than an empire, this is colossus. To rule it would take a man as great as *you can be*... That is why I say, "Patience".

  Alexander : Patience? My time is short.

  Aristotle : Short?

  Alexander : When the great god Zeus, father of Achilles, gave him his choice of a long life of obscurity and a short life filled with glory, he chose glory. So did I. Achilles died young...

• Aristotle : We Greeks are the chosen - the elect. Our culture is the best - our civilization, the best; our men, the best. All others are barbarians! And it is our moral duty to conquer them, enslave them, and if necessary destroy them!

  Aristotle : [speaking before Alexander and his friends]  Wonders are many - but none is more wonderful than Man himself. The Persian way of life has the seed of death, and fear, in it. That of the Greek - of life, and courage.

  Aristotle : The gods of the Greeks are made in the image of Men - not men with birds' heads, or bulls with lions' heads, but Men, who can be understood... and felt.

• Philip of Macedonia : There's work to do. Farewell, Aristotle.

  Aristotle : Farewell - and take these words with you and use them for what they are worth: Alexander is many things. He is logic, and he is dreams. He is warrior, and he is poet. He is man, and he is spirit. He is your son, but he's also *hers*... and he believes himself to be a god.

• Aristotle : Wonders are many, but none is more wonderful than man himself.