Quoting Aristotle in my PTCAS essay. Help!?

[kellerac]

So I'd like to include the following sentence in my PTCAS essay:

Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and influential scientist once declared that, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

However someone who was editing my paper mentioned that I should look to see if this needs to be cited or not. I feel like adding a citation in the middle of an application essay would be tacky. However will a non-cited quote be a major red flag for admission boards?

Let me know what you think, I'd like to leave it uncited, but also don't want to plagiarize

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[jblil]

You're overthinking it.

 

[liftthingsupanddown]

Don't use a citation for the PTCAS essay. They just want to see that you can form coherent thoughts with complete sentences.

 

[Grizzlyman]

Do not quote Aristotle. This is not literature class. Just write an essay from your life experiences as if you were speaking to an actual person.

 

[kdhdpt]

I used a quote from MLK in my essay, I think it is fine so long as it ties in with the point you're making and you mention his name before/after the quote. I definitely don't think it'll make you look like a jackass so long as it makes sense..

 

[brawnerj]

As long as it ties into what your main points are then you should be fine. I don't see how using a quote from one of the greatest minds in history makes you a jackass.

 

[Dinked]

Do whatever makes you stand out, just saying Aristotle said should be good enough of a citation

 

[liftthingsupanddown]

As long as it ties into what your main points are then you should be fine. I don't see how using a quote from one of the greatest minds in history makes you a jackass.

It's more so that using a citation would make you look strange, especially just one citation. Stylistically it's a little cringe-worthy.

 

[kellerac]

I submitted the essay. Everyone I had read it (dep. heads, engineer, professors) approved of the quote. I took out the explanation of who Aristotle it (considering my audience), and hopefully it goes over well.

p.s. I didn't cite it