“Pleasure is tricky—it can make something feel right even when it’s actually harmful. That’s why virtue requires wisdom and discipline, not just instinct.” -The Nichomachean Ethics - For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 43

“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

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Fountain

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“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

“We Learn by Doing Just like we learn  to play an instrument by practicing, we become virtuous by doing good actions. • People  become brave by acting bravely. • People become just by treating others fairly. • People become self-controlled by resisting temptations. This is why laws and education matter. Good laws help people build good habits. Societies with strong moral values create good citizens. But just as practice makes a good musician, bad practice makes a bad musician. If someone constantly cheats, lies, or acts selfishly, they will form bad habits and become a bad person. So, what we do every day shapes who we are.” -The Nichomachean Ethics - For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 36-37

“How Do We Become Virtuous? There are two kinds of virtue: 1 Intellectual virtue – Comes from learning and experience. It takes time and teaching to develop. 2 Moral virtue – Comes from practice and habit. It is developed by doing good actions over and over again. The word "ethics" comes from the Greek word "ethos," which means habit. This tells us that moral virtue isn’t something we are born with—it’s something we develop by practicing good habits.” -The Nichomachean Ethics - For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 35-36

“The Two Types of Virtue Since the soul has two parts, virtue is also divided into two types: 1 Intellectual virtues - These involve how we think, reason, and understand. Examples: ◦ Wisdom (knowing deep truths) ◦ Understanding (grasping ideas clearly) ◦ Practical wisdom (making good decisions in life) 2 Moral virtues – These involve actions and habits. Examples: ◦ Generosity (giving freely and fairly) ◦ Self-control (resisting bad desires) ◦ Courage (facing fears wisely)” -The Nichomachean Ethics- For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg.33

“Virtue is praiseworthy because it leads to good actions. But happiness is above praise because it is the final goal—it’s what we all aim for in life. This makes happiness the most valuable and complete thing in the world. It is the reason why we do everything else, and it is what makes life truly fulfilling. Virtue Helps Us Live a Happy Life Since happiness comes from living a good life, we need to understand virtue—the qualities that make a person good. The job of a political leader is to help people become virtuous and follow good laws. That’s why great lawgivers, like those in Sparta and Crete, focused on teaching virtue. But what kind of virtue are we talking about? Since happiness is about the soul, we need to focus on virtues of the soul, not just physical abilities or talents. To understand this, we must first understand the soul itself.” - The Nichomachean Ethics- For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 31-32

“A Happy Person Stays Happy Despite Life’s Ups and Downs The best way to answer this question is to go back to what we said earlier: Happiness is about living a life of virtue. Life is unpredictable, and both good and bad things happen. Some events bring small changes, while others have a bigger impact. But a truly happy person is stable—they don’t change like a chameleon just because something good or bad happens. • Small misfortunes don’t take away happiness. • Bad luck can hurt happiness, but a good person faces challenges with strength and grace. • In tough times, a good person stays noble. They find ways to make the best of their situation. It's like how a good general uses his army wisely or how a skilled shoemaker creates great shoes from what he has. Yet, there are limits. When someone suffers greatly, like Priam, the Trojan king who lost everything in his old age, happiness might not last.” -The Nichomachean Ethics - For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 30-31

“Happiness comes from living well. That’s why we don’t call animals happy—they don’t have the ability to make good or bad choices. Even young children aren’t truly happy yet because they haven’t had the chance to live wisely. When people call children happy, they usually mean they have good potential for the future. Also, happiness isn’t just about one good moment—it’s about a whole life. Even the happiest person can face great misfortunes. Take Priam, the king in Greek mythology. He lost everything in his old age. Someone who dies in misery is not truly happy. So, a good life requires: 1 Virtue – being a good and wise person. 2 A full lifetime – not just short-term success. 3 Some good fortune – while not the most important, it does help.” -The Nichomachean Ethics - For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 28

“It’s better to think happiness comes from effort, not luck. The best things in life should come from wisdom, reason, and nature, not just random chance.” -The Nichomachean Ethics - For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Edition, pg. 28

“Even though happiness comes from living well, external things still matter. It’s hard to do good things without the right resources. For example: • We need money, friends, and influence to do many noble actions. • Beauty, good family, and children add to a good life, while their absence can make life harder. • If someone has extreme hardships—like being ugly, lonely, or losing loved ones—it is difficult for them to be happy.” -The Nichomachean Ethics - For Everyone, Aristotle, Kindle Esition, pg. 28