For of course it is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.
[οὐ γὰρ ἴσως ταὐτὸν ἀνδρί τ᾽ ἀγαθῷ εἶναι καὶ πολίτῃ παντί.]
Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 5, ch. 2 (5.2.11) / 1130b.29 (c. 325 BC) [tr. Thomson (1953)]
(Source)
Aristotle suggests the distinction comes when a regime is corrupt or unjust, at which point carrying out the duties of a good citizen (supporting the regime) may not align with an individual's virtues.
See also Aristotle, Politics.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:For perhaps it is not the same thing to be a good man, and a good citizen.
[tr. Taylor (1818), 5.2]It may be it is not the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen in every case.
[tr. Chase (1847), 5.4]The perfection of the man is not perhaps in all cases identical with the perfection of the citizens.
[tr. Williams (1869), 5.2]It is possibly not the same thing in all cases to be a good man and to be a good citizen.
[tr. Welldon (1892), 5.5]It is possible that to be a good man is not the same as to be a good citizen of any state whatever.
[tr. Peters (1893), 5.2]Perhaps it is not the same to be a good man and a good citizen of any state taken at random.
[tr. Ross (1908), 5.2]It would seem that to be a good man is not in every case the same thing as to be a good citizen.
[tr. Rackham (1934), 5.2.11]For being a good man is presumably not in every case the same as being a good citizen.
[tr. Reeve (1948)]For perhaps to be a good man is not the same as to be a good citizen in every case.
[tr. Apostle (1975)]Presumably it is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.
[tr. Thomson/Tredennick (1976)]For, presumably, being a good man is not the same as being every sort of good citizen.
[tr. Irwin/Fine (1995)]For, presumably, being a good person is not in every case the same as being a good citizen.
[tr. Crisp (2000)]For perhaps it is not the same thing in every case to be a good man and to be a good citizen.
[tr. Bartlett/Collins (2011)]
