Aristotle serves as a valuable, and practical, model for mentors of adult learners. His writings give insight into mentoring even as we practice it today. Although he lived in ancient Greece (c. 384 BCE to 322 BCE) and his audience was aristocratic males, the tenets of his philosophy for adult learning hold true in the present age for learners of any race, class, or gender because they are built on human attributes common to us all. Written from the author’s perspective of more than 15 years of mentoring diverse adult learners, this article distills some principles for mentoring from Aristotle’s work that resonate with current practice: (a) mentor the soul, (b) understand the student’s “puzzle,” (c) trust our senses, and (d) develop excellence. Aristotle ideas give “form” to the task of mentoring, honoring excellence as a virtue to be sought—and achieved—in everyday actions. It is heartening to view the mentoring that we do today as part of a very long and very rich tradition, foundational to Western Civilization.

亚里斯多德（Aristotle）为成人学习者的指导提供了宝贵而实用的榜样。即使今天我们实践实践，他的著作也为指导提供了深刻的见识。尽管他居住在古希腊（公元前384年至公元前322年）并且听众是贵族男性，但他的成人学习哲学宗旨在当今时代对于任何种族，阶级或性别的学习者都是正确的关于我们所有人共有的人类属性。从作者15年来指导各种成人学习者的角度出发，本文从亚里士多德的著作中提炼了一些指导原则，这些原则与当前的实践产生了共鸣：（a）指导心灵，（b）了解学生的“困惑”，（ c）相信我们的感官，并且（d）发展卓越。亚里士多德的思想为指导任务提供了“形式”，尊重卓越是日常行动中寻求和实现的美德。令人振奋的是，将我们今天的指导视为悠久而丰富的传统的一部分，这一基础是西方文明的基础。