I distinctly remember in times gone by that Aristotle quoting Homer said, "The Rule of one is best". Now, I can't find it.

Using Questia, I found two other books that have the same quote:

"Furthermore, he argued, empirical evidence shows that the rule of one is best: The home has one master, the army one general, the universe one ruler. 53 Gassendi consistently compared the state to the home. " (Sarasohn 157)

Accordingly, we should not allow our familiar democratic rhetoric to obscure from us the fact that although a president or a prime minister is an officer of the state and accountable to the people, and is far from being an arbitrary tyrant, he is not, for that reason, any the less an exemplar of the Aristotelian principle that "the rule of one is best." (Goodman 170)

I have checked all my Loeb books on Plato, Aristotle and Homer and can't find this anywhere. I need help. Goodman here does register that it is from Aristotle but I don't have all of his books and neither does Gutenberg. Does anybody know of this quote and where and if it truly exists? I would be very appreciative.

Hi Wheeler,
It is from Homer's Iliad, Book 2, verse 204 : "there is no good in having many rulers; let only one ruler be, one king". Cf. the www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/interlinear-iliad.asp?homer=70">interlinear Iliad for this verse and the context.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! My desk is piled high with books and my frustration knew NO bounds---but thank you very much. I will be writing an article on this for the SPARTA journal.

The next challenge, where does Aristotle quote this?

Now, I get to put back all my books on the shelf and clean up my desk.

Glad to help you. Check Aristotle's Metaph. 1076a and Polit. 1292a. Check also Theophrastus Char. 26.2.