“A virtuous person knows when to feel emotions, how much to feel, and how to act on them in the right way.
The same goes for actions:
• Generosity: Too much, and you give everything away. Too little, and you’re selfish. The right balance is giving wisely.
• Courage: Too much, and you’re reckless. Too little, and you’re a coward. The right balance is bravery with wisdom.
• Self-control: Too much pleasure-seeking makes you indulgent. Avoiding all pleasure makes you lifeless. The right balance is enjoying life responsibly.
Some Things Are Always Wrong
But, not everything has a middle ground. Actions like stealing, lying, and cruelty are always wrong. You can’t say, ‘I only stole a little, so it was virtuous.’ Some things are simply bad, just as courage and honesty are always good.”
-The Nichomachean Ethics-For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 41-42
“Just like a strong eye sees well or a well-trained horse runs smoothly, a virtuous person makes good choices and lives wisely.
But how do we know what ‘good’ looks like? In everything, there’s a too much, a too little, and a just right. We call this the mean—the middle ground between extremes.”
-The Nichomachean Ethics-For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 41
Tête-à-Tête
“Virtue isn't just a feeling or an ability. It is a state of character. We develop it over time through practice.”
-The Nichomachean Ethics-For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 40
“Virtue works the same way. Just doing a kind or fair action once doesn’t make you a kind or fair person. To truly have virtue, three things must happen:
1 You must understand what you are doing.
2 You must choose to do it because it is the right thing to do.
3 You must do it regularly so that it becomes part of who you are.”
-The Nichomachean Ethics-For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg.39
“The Key to Being Good
• Virtue is about pleasure and pain—we need to train ourselves to enjoy good actions and avoid bad ones.
• Virtue is developed by practice—what we do repeatedly determines our character.
• Virtue is about balance—too much or too little of anything can lead to bad character.
Happiness comes from living a good life. To be virtuous, you need effort, discipline, and good habits.”
-The Nichomachean Ethics-For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 38
“People often do bad things because they enjoy them and avoid doing good things because they seem difficult. This is why training from a young age is important—we need to learn to enjoy good actions and avoid harmful ones.
Punishments also work this way. We correct people by making them feel pain when they do something wrong. Pain and pleasure influence our behavior.”
-The Nichomachean Ethics - For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 38
God Bless America
AND
Happy Ukrainian Independence Day
“Virtue isn’t about doing too much or too little—it’s about finding the right balance.
Virtue, then, is about finding the middle ground between two extremes.”
-The Nichomachean Ethics - For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 36-37
