nothing else can claim the
name in its own right, but, if at all, only in a secondary sense.

Quantities have no contraries. In the case of definite quantities this
is obvious; thus, there is nothing that is the contrary of 'two cubits
long' or of 'three cubits long', or of a surface, or of any such
quantities. A man might, indeed, argue that 'much' was the contrary of
'little', and 'great' of 'small'. But these are not quantitative, but
relative; things are not great or small absolutely, they are so called
rather as the result of an act of comparison. For instance, a mountain
is called small, a grain large, in virtue of the fact that the latter
is greater than others of its kind, the former less. Thus there is a
reference here to an external standard, for if the terms 'great' and
'small' were used absolutely, a mountain would never be called small or
a grain large. Again, we say that there are many people in a village,
and few in Athens, although those in the city are many times as
numerous as those in the village: or we say that a house has many in
it, and a theatre few, though those in the theatre far outnumber those
in the house. The terms 'two cubits long, 'three cubits long,' and so
on indicate quantity, the terms 'great' and 'small' indicate relation,
for they have reference to an external standard. It is, therefore,
plain that these are to be classed as relative.

Again, whether we define them as quantitative or not, they have no
contraries: for how can there be a contrary of an attribute which is
not to be apprehended in or by itself, but only by reference to
something external? Again, if 'great' and 'small' are contraries, it
will come about that the same subject can admit contrary qualities at
one and the same time, and that things will themselves be contrary to
themselves. For it happens at times that the same thing is both small
and great. For the same thing may be small in comparison with one
thing, and great in comparison with another, so that the same thing
comes to be both small and great at one and the same time, and is of
such a nature as to admit contrary qualities at one and the same
moment. Yet it was agreed, when substance was being discussed, that
nothing admits contrary qualities at one and the same moment. For
though substance is capable of admitting contrary qualities, yet no one
is at the same time both sick and healthy, nothing is at the same time
both white and black. Nor is there anythin