Delphic Maxims and Aristotle

Delphic Maxims

Know yourself.

Nothing in excess.

Aid friends.

Control anger.

Shun unjust acts.

Ackowledge sacred things.

Hold on to learning.

Praise virtue.

Avoid enemies.

Cultivate kinsmen.

Pity supplicants.

Accomplish your limit.

When you err, repent.

Consider the time.

Worship the divine.

 
 

Those are just a few of the Delphic Maxims. At the beginning of the semester I came across these Delphic maxims and thought about writing a blog concerning them. However, at the time it didn't seem interesting enough to me or I didn't see anything too exciting about them back then. So I was looking over the complete list of Delphic maxims (which can e found all over Google) and I realized that a lot of them actually seem like they could easily be integrated into my life if they weren't already. I think that they cover a lot of moral ground. It's sort of like Aristotle's moral virtues hidden in aphorisms. But still the suggestions don't tell you what you're aiming for like Aristotle does in the nichomechian ethics. There are only suggestions, some that seem perfectly normal and good and other that seem pointless and misguided. So it all depends on the "good" that you're trying to achieve whether or not the Delphic maxims could acts as the nichomechian ethics. Before we read the N.M I thought that the Delphic maxims were good tenets to live by, but now I think that they fall terribly short and could lead to any kind of life unlike the virtues taught in the N.M which Aristotle goes to incredible heights to show that they aim towards the greatest heights.