Skip to content
QuoteQuest

“But as more arts were invented, and some were directed to the necessities of life, others to recreation, the inventors of the latter were naturally always regarded as wiser than the inventors of the former, because their branches of knowledge did not aim at utility. ... This is why the mathematical arts were founded in Egypt; for there the priestly caste was allowed to be at leisure.”

Attribution not independently verified against a primary source.

— Aristotle

Verification

Attributed

Recorded by a reliable secondary source; exact wording may differ.

Listed with a citation on Wikiquote. Attribution is source-supported, not independently verified.

Live wording check · 2026-10-25

But as more arts were invented, and some were directed to the necessities of life, others to recreation, the inventors of the latter were naturally always regarded as wiser than the inventors of the former, because their branches of knowledge did not aim at utility. ... This is why the mathematical arts were founded in Egypt; for there the priestly caste was allowed to be at leisure. Citation: Book A(I).1 981b20-24 Listed on https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle (CC BY-SA)
Read evidence

Source

Title
Wikiquote: Aristotle
Type
Wikiquote (CC BY-SA) · Secondary source
View source at publisher

Cite this source

Bibliography entry
Aristotle. (n.d.). Wikiquote: Aristotle. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle
Quotation citation
Aristotle (n.d.)
In-text citation
(Aristotle, n.d.)

Incomplete citation — missing: publication date, publisher, page or location. Check citations against your institution's style guide.

Citation draft only — confirm wording, speaker and the underlying source before submitting schoolwork.

Report a problem

Provenance: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle