 Book 4 of the Nicomachean Ethics. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Jeffrey Edwards. The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. Translated by Thomas Taylor. Book 4 Chapter 1 In the next place, let us speak concerning liberality. But it appears to be a medium about riches. For the liberal man is praised, not in warlike concerns, nor in those things in which the temperate man is praised, nor again in judicial affairs, but in the giving and receiving of riches and more in the giving than in the receiving. We call, however, riches everything, the worth of which is measured by money. But, prodigality and illiberality are excesses and defects about riches. And, we always, indeed, ascribe illiberality to those who pay more attention to riches than is proper. But, combining, we sometimes attribute prodigality to the intemperate. For, we call both the incontinent and those who consume their property in intemperance, prodigals. Hence, men of this description appear to be most depraved, for, at one and the same time, they have many vices. They are not, however, appropriately denominated. For, he is a prodigal who has one certain vice, viz, the consumption of his property. For, he is a prodigal who is destroyed through himself. Since, the consumption of his property appears to be a certain destruction of himself. As, through this, the means of living are obtained. In this way, therefore, we consider prodigality. With respect to those things, however, of which there is a certain use, it is possible to use them well or ill. But, wealth is among the number of things useful. And, he uses everything in the best manner who possesses the virtue pertaining to each thing. He, therefore, will use wealth in the best manner who has the virtue pertaining to riches. And, he is the liberal man. The use, however, of riches appears to be expense and donation. But, the accepting and preservation of riches is rather possession. Hence, it is more the province of a liberal man to give to those to whom it is proper than to receive whence it is proper and not to receive whence it is not proper. For, it is more the province of virtue to benefit than to be benefited and to perform things which are beautiful than not to perform things which are base. It is not, however, a manifest that to giving, to benefit and to act beautifully are consequent but to receiving, to be benefited or not to act basely. Thanks, also, are presented to the giver but not to the receiver and praise is rather bestowed on the former than the latter. It is, likewise, more easy not to receive than to give. For men are less willing to bestow what is their own than not to receive what belongs to another. Those, also, who bestow are called liberal but those who do not receive are not praised for liberality but are no less praised for justice. Those, however, who receive are not very much praised but of all those who are loved on account of virtue the liberal are nearly beloved the most for they benefit others and this consists in giving. The actions, however, according to virtue are beautiful and are for the sake of the beautiful. The liberal man, therefore, gives for the sake of the beautiful and gives rightly for he gives to those to whom it is proper and such things as are proper and when it is proper and whatever other particulars are consequent to giving rightly and this he does either delectably or without pain for that which is conformable to virtue is delectable or without pain but is in the smallest degree painful but he who gives to those to whom it is not proper or not for the sake of the beautiful but from some other cause is not liberal but must be called by some other name nor is he liberal who gives with pain for such a one would prefer riches to a beautiful action but this is not the province of a liberal man nor does the liberal man receive from whence it is not proper to receive for neither is such a kind of receiving the province of one who does not honor riches neither will the liberal man be readily disposed to ask a favor for it is not the province of him who benefits to be benefited easily but he will take whence it is proper as for instance from his own possessions not as a thing beautiful but as necessary in order that he may have the means of giving nor will he neglect his own affairs because he wishes through these to supply the wants of certain persons nor will he give to any casual persons in order that he may have to give to those to whom it is proper and when it is proper and where it is beautiful to give it is likewise very much the province of a liberal man so to exceed in giving as to leave but little for himself for it is the property of a liberal man not to consider himself but liberality is denominated according to the property which is possessed for the liberal does not consist in the multitude of gifts in the habit of the giver and this habit gives according to the means of giving nothing however hinders but that he may be a more liberal man who gives fewer things if he gives them from less means but those persons appear to be more liberal who have not acquired property themselves but have received it from others for they have had no experience of want and all men are more attached to their own works as is evident in parents and poets it is not however easy for the liberal man to be rich since he is neither anxious to receive nor preserve wealth but is more disposed to give and does not honor riches on their own account but for the sake of giving hence also fortune is accused because those who most deserve to be are in the smallest degree wealthy this however does not happen unreasonably for it is not possible that he should be rich who pays no attention to the means of obtaining wealth as is also the case in other things nevertheless the liberal man will not give to those to whom he ought not nor when he ought not and other things of the like kind for if he did he would no longer act conformably to liberality and by thus consuming his wealth improperly he would not have the means of giving to those to whom he ought to give for as we have said he is a liberal man who spends according to his property and on things on which he ought to spend but he who exceeds his means in spending is a prodigal hence we do not call tyrants prodigals for it does not seem to be easy by gifts and expenses to exceed the abundance of their possessions since therefore liberality is a medium which is conversant about giving and receiving riches the liberal man will give and spend on things on which he ought and as much as he ought as well in small things as in great and he will thus act willingly and with pleasure he will likewise receive whence it is proper and such things as he ought to receive for since this virtue is a medium about giving and receiving he will do both these in such a way as is proper since a receiving of this kind is consequent to giving equitably but a receiving which is not of this kind is the contrary things therefore which are consequent may subsist together in the same thing but it is evident that contraries cannot but if it should happen to the liberal man that he should spend beyond what he ought and beyond what is becoming he will be pained yet moderately and in such a manner as is proper for it is the province of virtue to be pleased and pained with those things with which it is proper to be so and in such a way as is proper the liberal man also is very pliable in pecuniary contracts for he may be injured since he does not honour riches and he is more indignant if he has not spent what he ought than pained if he has spent what he ought not for he does not ascend to Simonides but the prodigal heirs also in these things for he is neither pleased nor pained with things with which he ought nor as he ought but this will be more evident as we proceed it has however been observed by us that prodigality and ill-liberality are excesses and defects and in two things vis in giving and receiving for we place expense in the same class with giving prodigality therefore exceeds in giving and not receiving but it fails in receiving and ill-liberality fails indeed in giving but exceeds in receiving except in small things the peculiarities therefore of prodigality cannot be very much conjoined for it is not easy for him who receives nothing to give to everyone since the property of those private individuals rapidly fails who also appear to be prodigals for a man of this description does seem to be better but not much than the ill-liberal man for he is easily cured by age and by want and may arrive at the medium for he has the properties of the liberal man since he gives and does not receive yet neither as he ought nor in a becoming manner if therefore he should happen to be accustomed to this or in some other way should be changed he would become liberal for he would give to those to whom it is proper and would not receive whence it is not proper hence the prodigal does not appear to be depraved in his manners for it is not the property of a bad or ignoble but of a stupid man to exceed in giving and not receiving but he who is prodigal after this manner appears to be much better than the ill-liberal man for the above mentioned reasons and also because the one benefits many but the other no one and not even himself the multitude of prodigals however as we have said receive whence they ought not and according to this are illiberal but they become prompt to receive because through being willing to spend they are unable to do this with facility for the means of spending rapidly fail them hence they are compelled to procure money elsewhere but at the same time because they pay no attention to the beautiful in conda they receive negligently and from everyone indiscriminately for they desire to give but it is of no consequence to them how or whence they give on this account neither are their gifts liberal for they are not beautiful nor for the sake of this very thing the beautiful in conduct nor they bestowed as they ought to be but sometimes they cost those to be rich who ought to be poor and give nothing to men whose manners are moderate but bestow much on flatterers or those who are the means of procuring them any other pleasures hence also most of them are intemperate for they spend their money easily and likewise spend profusely on things of an intemperate nature and because they do not live with a view to the beautiful in conduct they incline to pleasures the prodigal therefore unless he is corrected falls into these vices but by care and diligence he may arrive at the medium and to what is becoming in conduct illiberality however is incurable for old age and every infirmity appear to render men illiberal and it is more congenial to them than prodigality for the multitude are more desirous of gain than disposed to give illiberality likewise extends widely and is multi-form since there appears to be many modes of it for consisting in two things a deficiency in giving and excess in receiving it is not wholly and entirely present with all illiberal men but sometimes it is divided and some indeed exceed in receiving but others are deficient in giving for all those to whom such appellations apply as niggardly, tenacious, and sordid are deficient in giving but they do not desire the property of others nor do they wish to receive some indeed through a certain probity and avoidance of base conduct for some of them seem to take care of their own property or at least say that they do so in order that they may not at any time be compelled to do anything base of these characters however the skinflint and every one of the like kind is so denominated from giving to no one in excess but others of these abstain from property which is not their own through fear because it is not easy for him to take what belongs to others to preserve his own property unviolated hence they are disposed neither to receive nor give others again exceed in receiving in consequence of receiving on all sides and everything such as those who perform illiberal works together with panders, users gamesters, sharpers and other depredators and those who for the sake of a little subject themselves to great infamy for all these receive whence they ought not and what they ought not the acquisition however of base gain appears to be common to these for all of them endure disgrace for the sake of gain and this small for we do not call those illiberal who receive great things whence they ought not and such as they ought not as for instance tyrants the subverters of cities and the plunderers of temples either call them depraved and impious and unjust the gamester indeed the highwaymen and the sharper are among the number of illiberal characters for they are addicted to base gain since for the sake of gain they devote themselves to these employments and endure disgraces and some indeed expose themselves to the greatest dangers for the sake of what they may get but others gain something from their friends to whom they ought to give therefore since they wish to enrich themselves whence they ought not are addicted to base gain and all such receivings are illiberal reasonably also is illiberality said to be contrary to liberality for it is a greater evil than prodigality and men air more in this than in prodigality of which we have spoken above and thus much concerning liberality and the opposite vices Chapter 2 it would seem to follow that we should in the next place discuss magnificence for it also appears to be a certain virtue which is conversant with riches it does not however in the same manner as liberality extend to all pecuniary actions but only to those that are sumptuous for in these it surpasses liberality in magnitude for as its name signifies it is a becoming costliness in great things magnitude however is a relative for the same expense does not become the commander of a three ranked galley and the president of a public spectacle the becoming therefore subsists with reference to him who spends and to the things on which he spends his money and the money which is spent he however who spends with decorum in small or in moderate things is not called magnificent such as to vagrant mendicants I often have given close quote but he who spends appropriately in great things for the magnificent is a liberal man but the liberal man is not because liberal magnificent of the habit however of this kind the deficiency indeed is called parsimony but the excess vulgar ostentation and ignorance of what is elegant and such other appellations as belong to habits which do not exceed in magnitude about things in which great expense is becoming but exhibit a splendid profusion in things in which such profusion is not proper concerning these however we shall speak hereafter but the magnificent resembles the scientific man for he is able to survey what is decorum and can spend largely with elegance for as we said in the beginning habit is defined by energies and by those things of which it is the habit but the expenses of the magnificent man are great and becoming and such also are his deeds for thus the expenses will be great and adapted to the deed hence it is necessary that the deed should be worthy the expense and the expense worthy the deed or even surpassing it the magnificent man therefore spends after this manner for the sake of the beautiful in conduct for this is common to the virtues and he also spends with pleasure and largely because an accurate attention to expense is the province of a parsimonious man the magnificent man likewise will rather consider how he may accomplish the most beautiful and becoming work than the money it will cost and how it may be accomplished with the least expense it is necessary therefore that the magnificent should also be a liberal man for the liberal man spends what he ought and as he ought but in these things whatever is great pertains to the magnificent man magnificence being as it were a certain magnitude of liberality since however liberality is conversant with the same things as magnificence the magnificent man will produce a more magnificent work from an equal expense for there is not the same virtue of possession and a work since the virtue of a possession is to be of great worth and most precious as gold but the virtue of a work is to be great and beautiful for the survey of a thing of this kind is admirable but the magnificent is admirable and the virtue of a work is magnificence in magnitude among expenses however which we call honorable are such as pertain to the worship of the gods gifts dedicated to divinity the building of temples and sacrifices and in a similar manner such things as pertain to every demoniacal nature and such as are bestowed on the community at large from a laudable ambition thus the expenses of the magnificent man will be of this kind if he should think it requisite to furnish public spectacles splendidly or three ranked galleys or to feast the city but in all things as we have said it must be considered who the agent is and what the means are which he possesses for the expense ought to be such as is worthy of the means and not only adapted to the work but also to him by whom it is affected hence a poor cannot be a magnificent man for he has not the means of spending much in a becoming manner the poor man therefore who endeavors to do so is stupid who is repugnant to his means and to the becoming but that which is done rightly is done according to virtue such expense however becomes those who possess hereditary wealth or have procured it themselves or have derived it from their ancestors or by legacy and likewise becomes those who are noble and renowned and other persons of the like kind for all these have magnitude and dignity and the man therefore is especially a person of this description and magnificence as we have said consists in such like expenses for they are the greatest and the most honorable with respect to private expenses however those pertain to the magnificent man which are incurred but once such as marriage and whatever also there may be of the like kind and that about which the whole city or those who are in the dignified situation also such expenses as pertain to the receiving and dismissing of strangers together with gifts and remunerations for the magnificent man does not spend sumptuously on himself but on the public but gifts have something similar to things consecrated to the gods it is also the province of a magnificent man to build a house in a manner adapted to wealth for this also is a certain ornament and to bestow more upon those works which are more lasting for these are most beautiful it is likewise his province in each of these to observe the becoming for the same things are not adapted to gods and men either in building a temple or a sepulcher and every essence indeed is great in its own kind and that is most magnificent which is great in a great thing but that is so in the second place which is great in these things for there is a difference between magnitude in a work and magnitude in expense since a ball indeed or a most beautiful jug possesses the magnificence of a childish gift but the price of these is small and illiberal on this account it is the province of a magnificent man to do magnificently whatever he may do in every genus of things for a thing of this kind cannot easily be transcended and the magnitude of the expense is appropriate such therefore is the magnificent man but he who exceeds and is vulgarly ostentatious exceeds by spending as we have before observed beyond what is becoming for in small things and which require but small expense he consumes much money and is discordantly splendid for instance he will prepare a wedding dinner through ostentation and give money to players who are present at the entertainment as if it were for the public advantage and in plays he will introduce a purple curtain before the scenes as is done by the megarinseans he will likewise do everything of this kind not for the sake of the beautiful and conduct but that he may display his wealth and fancies then on account of these things he shall be admired for things likewise where much expense is required he spends but little but where little expense is required he spends largely the parsimonious man however is deficient in everything and when he has incurred a great expense then looking to the completion of the work by a too accurate investigation he leaves it imperfect through too little expense everything also which he does is accompanied with delay and consideration on this account he laments and fancies that he does everything on a larger scale than he ought these habits therefore are vices yet they do not bring with them disgrace because they are neither injurious to others nor base in the extreme chapter 3 but magnanimity is conversant with great things as is evident from the very name what the quality of the things is however with which it is conversant we must in the first place consider but it makes no difference whether we survey the habit or him who subsists according to the habit he however appears to be magnanimous who deserving great things thinks that he deserves them for he who thinks thus of himself undeservedly is stupid but no one who is endued with virtue is either stupid or a fool the above mentioned character therefore is magnanimous for he who deserves small things and thinks that he deserves them is a modest but not a magnanimous man since magnanimity consists in magnitude just as beauty consists in a large body for small men are elegant and have symmetry of form but are not beautiful he however who thinks that he deserves great things but thus thinks undeservedly is proud though not everyone is proud who deserving many things thinks he deserves more but he who estimates himself less than he deserves is pusillanimous if deserving things of a moderate or small nature he thinks himself to deserve still less than these and he will especially appear to be a character of this kind who deserving great things has this humiliating opinion of himself for what would he do if he were not deserving of such things the magnanimous man therefore is in magnitude the summit but in that which is requisite the middle for he thinks himself deserving of that which he does deserve but the other characters exceed and are deficient hence if deserving great things he thinks that he deserves them and especially if he deserves the greatest things he will principally be conversant with one thing what this is therefore must be assumed from dessert and dessert is denominated with reference to external goods however consider that as the greatest of external goods which we attribute to the gods after which those who are in a dignified situation especially aspire and which is the reward of the most beautiful deeds but honor is a thing of this kind for this is the greatest of external goods the magnanimous man therefore is conversant with honor and dishonor in such a manner as is proper and indeed without any reasoning process the magnanimous appears to be conversant with honor for great men especially think themselves deserving of honor but they think so deservedly the pusillanimous man however is deficient both with respect to himself and the dessert of the magnanimous man but the proud man exceeds indeed with respect to himself yet not with respect to the magnanimous man the magnanimous man however if he is deserving of the greatest things will be the best of men for a better character always deserves something greater and the best of characters deserves the greatest of things hence it is necessary that the truly magnanimous man should be a good man and that which is great in every virtue will appear to belong to the magnanimous man nor does it by any means accord with the character of the magnanimous man to fly agitated with fear or to injure anyone for on what account will he act basely to whom nothing is great but from a survey of particulars the magnanimous man will appear to be ridiculous if he is not a good man nor indeed will he be worthy of honor if he is a bad man for honor is the reward of virtue and is conferred on good men magnanimity therefore appears to be as it were a certain ornament of the virtues for it causes them to be greater and does not exist without them on this account it is truly difficult to be magnanimous for it is not possible to be so without integrity and worth the magnanimous man therefore is especially conversant with honor and dishonor and with great honors indeed and those which are conferred by worthy men he is moderately pleased as being things familiar and adapted to him or rather less than he deserves therefore there can be no honor equal to the dessert of all perfect virtue nevertheless he will admit these honors because they have not anything greater to confer upon him but he will entirely despise the honor which is paid him by casual persons and for things of a trifling nature for these do not accord with his dessert and in a similar manner he will despise dishonor for it will not just sleep the magnanimous man therefore as we have said is especially conversant with honor nevertheless with respect to wealth also and power and all prosperous and adverse fortune he will conduct himself in these moderately in whatever manner they may take place and neither in prosperity will he be very much elated nor in adversity very much dejected for neither is he affected with respect to honor for the greatest of things since dominion and wealth are eligible on account of honor those therefore who possess these wish through them to be honored to him however to whom honor is a small thing other things also will be small hence likewise magnanimous men appear to be supercilious prosperity however seems to contribute to magnanimity for those that are nobly born are thought worthy of honor and those that are rich for they surpass others but everything which excels in good is more honorable hence also things of this kind cause men to be more magnanimous for they are honored by certain persons on account of them in reality however the good man alone is to be honored but he who possesses both these i.e. good fortune and virtue is reckoned more deserving of honor those however who possess such like goods without virtue neither justly think themselves worthy of great things nor are rightly called magnanimous men for magnanimity cannot exist without all perfect virtue but those who possess things of this kind become supercilious and insolent and bad men for without virtue it is not easy to bear prosperity elegantly but not being able to bear prosperity and fancying that they surpass other men they despise them in a casual manner for they imitate the magnanimous man without resembling him and they do this in those things in which they are able they do not therefore act conformably to virtue but they despise other men the magnanimous man however justly despises others for he forms a true opinion of men and things but the opinion of the multitude is casually formed the magnanimous man also neither exposes himself nor is a lover of danger because there are but few things which he considers to be of great importance but he exposes himself to great dangers and when he is in danger is not sparing of his life because he does not consider life as a thing of great importance he is likewise disposed to benefit others but is ashamed to be benefited for the former is the province of one who surpasses but the latter of one who is surpassed and the benefit which he returns exceeds what he received for thus it will come to pass that he who first bestowed the benefit will be his debtor and will be benefited by him magnanimous men also appear to remember those whom they have benefited but not those from whom they have derived any advantage for he who receives is inferior to him who confers the benefit but the magnanimous man wishes to excel but does Thetis mention the benefits she had conferred on Jupiter nor the Lassid Demonians those which they had conferred on the Athenians but those which they had received from them it is likewise the property of a magnanimous man to ask nothing of anyone or scarcely to do so but to administer readily to the wants of others and towards those indeed who are in a dignified situation and in prosperous circumstances in his behavior but moderate towards those who are in a middle condition for to surpass the former is difficult and venerable but it is easy to excel the latter and to conduct himself with dignity among the former is not ignoble but among the lower class of men it is arrogant in the same manner as it would be for a man to display his strength among the infirm it is also the property of the magnanimous man to give himself to things which are held in honorable estimation or where others possess the principal place likewise to be at leisure and given to delay except where great honor is to be obtained or some great work is to be accomplished and to perform a few things indeed but these great and celebrated it is also necessary that he should openly hate and openly love for to conceal love or hatred is the province of one who is afraid it is likewise the property of the magnanimous man to regard truth more than opinion and also to speak and act openly for this is the province of the man who despises others hence he uses the greatest freedom of speech for this pertains to him who speaks freely hence too he is a despiser of others and a lover of truth unless when he speaks ironically but his language is ironical to the vulgar magnanimous man likewise is unable to live with any other person than a friend for it is servile hence all flatterers are mercenary and all humble men are flatterers nor is he given to admiration for to him nothing is great in human affairs nor is he mindful of injuries for it is not the province of a magnanimous man to be mindful and especially of evils but rather to overlook them nor to speak about men for neither does he speak about himself nor about another person for he is not concerned either that he himself may be praised or that others may be blamed nor again is he addicted to praise hence neither does he defame anyone not even his enemies unless in order to remove contumally from himself and in necessary or small affairs he is by no means quarrelous and suppliant but also is the province of a man who considers such affairs as of great consequence he is likewise so disposed as to prefer the possession of things beautiful and unattended with advantage such as are advantageous and useful for this is more the province of one who is sufficient to himself the motion also of the magnanimous man is slow, his voice is grave and his diction stable for he who is earnestly attentive to but few things is not prone to be hasty nor is he vehemently strenuous who considers nothing in human affairs as great but acuteness of voice and propidity of motion are produced from vehemence and considering human affairs as important such therefore is the magnanimous man he however who is deficient in magnanimity is pusillanimous but he who exceeds is proud neither however do these characters appear to be bad for they are not malevolent but wander from the medium for the pusillanimous man indeed deserving good things deprives himself of what he deserves and appears to have something depraved in consequence of not thinking himself to deserve what is good he also is ignorant of himself for if he were not he would aspire after things of which he is worthy such things being good such men however do not appear to be stupid but rather to be sluggish but an opinion of this kind seems to render them worse for everyone desires what is adapted to his dessert they likewise withdraw themselves from beautiful actions and pursuits as if they were unworthy of them and in a similar manner from external goods but the proud and arrogant are stupid and ignorant of themselves and this obviously however to obtain honourable things as if they deserve them and afterwards are reprobated by others for doing so they also study the ornaments of dress and graceful deportment and the like and they wish that their prosperity may be apparent and they speak of themselves as if they were to be honoured on account of these things pusillanimity however is more opposed to magnanimity than pride and arrogance for it more frequently occurs than reverse evil magnanimity therefore is as we have said conversant with great honour chapter 4 it seems however that a certain virtue is conversant with honour as we have before observed which would appear to have a similar relation to magnanimity that liberality has to magnificence for both these virtues are remote from magnitude but dispose us in such a way as is proper and moderate and small but as in the receiving and giving of money there are a medium excess and defect thus also in the appetite of honour there are the more and the less than is proper and whence it is proper and as it is proper for we blame the ambitious man as aspiring after honour more than is proper and whence it is not proper to obtain it and we blame the unambitious man for being to be honoured even for actions that are beautiful sometimes however we praise the ambitious man as virile and a lover of beautiful conduct but the unambitious man as modest and temperate as we have before observed but it is evident that since the lover of a certain thing is said to be so multifariously we do not always refer the lover of honour to the same thing but when we praise him more than the vulgar desire it and when we blame him it is because he desires it more than is proper since however the medium is anonymous the extremes appear to contend for it as for a solitary place but in those things in which there are excess and defect there is also a medium men also aspire after honour more or less than is proper and therefore they also aspire after it in such a way as is proper hence this habit is praised which is an anonymous medium about honour it appears however with reference to ambition to be a privation of ambition and to be ambition with reference to a privation of ambition and to be in a certain respect both with reference to both this also appears to be the case in the other virtues here however the extremes are seen to be opposed to each other because the middle is without a name chapter 5 but mildness is indeed a medium conversant with anger since however the virtue which conducts itself moderately with respect to anger is anonymous and this is also nearly the case with the extremes we refer mildness to the medium though it appears to incline rather to the deficiency in anger which deficiency is anonymous but the excess may be called a certain angriness for the passion is anger but the causes of it are many and various he therefore who is angry from causes and with persons with which it is proper to be angry and farther still in such a manner as is proper and when and as long as it is proper is praised hence he will be a mild man since mildness is praised for the mild man wishes to be without perturbation and not to be led by passions but to be angry as reason may ordain in these things and for as long a time as it prescribes he appears however rather to err in the deficiency with respect to anger for the mild man is not given to revenge but is rather inclined to pardon but the deficiency whether it be a certain lenity or whatever it may be is blamed for those who are not angry from causes for which it is proper to be angry appear to be stupid and this is also the case with those who are not angry as it is proper nor when it is proper nor with those persons with whom it is proper since they appear to be without sensation and to be void of pain and also since they are not angry they are not inclined to revenge for it is servile for a man to endure the insolent behavior of others towards himself and his own relations excess however in anger has a manifold subsistence for it is possible to be angry with persons and from causes with which it is not proper and also more and less and for a longer time than is proper all these excesses however are not inherent in the same person for it is not possible that they should be for evil destroys itself and if it is perfect and attire is intolerable those therefore who are irascible rapidly become angry and with things and from causes with which they ought not to be angry and also more than is proper but they quickly cease to be angry which is a most excellent thing but this happens to them because they do not restrain their anger but return an injury as soon as they have received it hence their anger on account of its hilarity is manifest but afterwards they cease to be angry the extremely irascible however are excessively rapid in their anger and are angry with everything and on every occasion whence also they derive their appellation but the bitterly angry are with difficulty liberated from anger and are angry for a long time for they detain their anger from bursting forth they cease however to be angry when they have taken vengeance on those that angered them for vengeance appeases anger producing pleasure instead of pain but if vengeance does not take place they are oppressed with a heavy burden for because the manner in which they are affected is not apparent neither does anyone persuade them to be appeased time however is requisite for them to concoct their anger because this description are most troublesome to themselves and to those who are especially their friends we likewise call those men severe in their anger who are angry for causes for which they ought not and in a greater degree and for a longer time than is proper and who cannot be appeased without revenge or punishment to mildness however we rather oppose the excess than the defect for it is more frequent severe men also are worse for the purpose of association but that which we before observed is also manifest from what we now say for it is not easy to define how and with what persons and for what causes and for how long a time a man should be angry and also to what extent he may be so rightly or erroneously for he who transgresses in a small degree is not blamed or to the less since we sometimes praise those that are deficient and call them mild and sometimes we call those who are severely angry, virile as being men who are able to govern others it is not therefore easy to explain in words the quantity and mode of transgression which is blameable for the judgment of this is situated in particulars and in sense thus much however is evident that the middle habit indeed is laudable according to which we are angry with those persons and from those causes that it is proper to be so and in such a manner as is proper and everything else of the like kind but the excesses and defects are blameable and these indeed if they deviate but a little from the medium are blameable in a small degree if more in a greater degree and if much they are very blameable it is evident therefore that the middle habit must be retained and thus we have discussed the habits pertaining to anger Chapter 6 in the associations however of men with each other and in the communication of words and deeds some persons appear to be placid and obsequious who praise everything with a view to pleasure of those with whom they associate and are not their opponents in anything in consequence of fancying that they ought not by any means others on the contrary are adverse to their associates in everything and are not at all concerned about whom they may offend and these are cold morose and litigious that the above mentioned habits therefore are blameable is not immanifest and also that the medium between these is laudable according to which a man admits what he ought and as he ought and is in a similar manner indignant no name however is given to this medium but it seems especially to resemble friendship for he who subsists according to the middle habit is such a one as we wish a worthy friend to be if he also assumes in conjunction with it a love resembling feely a love but it differs from friendship because it is without passion and a love resembling feely a love towards those upon whom it is exercised for it does not admit everything in such a manner as this fit in consequence of loving or hating but from a habit of approving or representing properly for he who possesses this habit will be similarly affable to those whom he does not and to those whom he does know to his associates and to those with whom he does not associate except that to each of these his affability will be appropriate for it is not fit similarly to pay attention or give pain to familiars and strangers we have therefore universally shown that he will conduct himself in his associations in such a manner as is proper but referring his actions to the beautiful in conduct and the useful his aim will be neither to give pain to nor delight others by obsequiousness for this virtue appears to be conversant with the pains and pleasures which take place in associations but when the possessor of this virtue cannot delight his associates worthily or without injuring them he is indignant and deliberately chooses to give them pain rather than to injure them by obsequiousness he also will not permit another person to be obsequious to him in those things which are attended with no small disgrace or injury and the contrary to which produces but little pain but he will rather be indignant he will likewise associate differently with those in a unified situation and any casual persons and with those who are more or less known to him in a similar manner also in other differences he will attribute to everyone what it is fit for each person to receive and he will indeed choose to give delight to others as a thing of itself eligible but will cautiously avoid giving them pain and with respect to events if they are greater he will follow them in conduct and the advantageous and for the sake of great pleasure afterwards he will give pain in a small degree such therefore is the middle character but he is without a name with respect however to those who delight others he who aims at pleasing and nothing else may be called accommodating but he who does this in order that he may derive some pecuniary advantage or such things as are procured through money is a flatterer and he who is indignant with everything we have already said is morose and litigious the extremes however appear to be opposed to each other because the medium is anonymous chapter 7 the medium of arrogance also is nearly conversant with the same things but this medium likewise is anonymous it will not however be foreign from the purpose to discuss such like habits for by discussing each particular we shall know more of what pertains to manners and shall be persuaded that the virtues are media when we understand what takes place in all of them with respect therefore to the associations of men with each other we have already spoken concerning those who associate with a view to pleasure and pain but let us now consider those who are men of veracity or falsehood alike in words and deeds and dissimulation the arrogant man therefore appears to be one who pretends to things of a splendid nature which he does not possess or to such as are more splendid than he possesses the dissimbler on the contrary denies what he possesses or makes it to be less than it is but the middle character forming a just opinion of himself is a man of veracity in his life and in his words acknowledging that he possesses what he does possess and neither more nor less each of these however may be done for the sake of something or for the sake of nothing but such as a man is such also will be his words and actions and such also will be his life unless he acts for the sake of something of itself however falsehood is bad and blameable but truth is beautiful and laudable hence the man of veracity indeed being a middle character is laudable but of the two characters who want veracity both indeed are blameable but the arrogant man more than the other we shall however speak concerning each of these and in the first place concerning the man of veracity for we do not speak of the man who has veracity in compacts and in things which pertain to injustice or justice for this will belong to another virtue but we speak of him who though nothing of this kind should occur is a man of veracity both in words and in his life because he is such from habit but such a one will appear to be a worthy man for he who is a lover of truths and who speaks the truth in things in which it is of no consequence whether he does or not will in a still greater degree speak the truth of things in which it is of consequence for he will avoid what is false as base and which also he will of itself avoid but such a man is worthy of praise he will however if it should be requisite to deviate from the medium rather inclined to what is less than the truth for this appears to be more elegant because excesses are troublesome and invidious but he who pretends that he possesses things of greater consequence than he really does and this for the sake of nothing else resembles indeed the depraved man for otherwise he would not be delighted with falsehood yet he seems to be more vain than a bad man if however he does this for the sake of something such as glory or honor he is not very blameable as the arrogant man he is but if he does it for the sake of money or for things which pertain to money he is more base but the arrogant man is not characterized by capacity or power but by deliberate choice for he is arrogant according to habit and because he is such a character thus also with respect to the man who is without veracity when delights in falsehood itself but another delights in it in consequence of aspiring after glory or gain those therefore who are arrogant for the sake of glory pretend the possession of those things for which men are praised or proclaimed to be happy but those who are arrogant for the sake of gain pretend to be those characters with which others are delighted and of which the non-possession may be latent such to be a physician or a prophet or a wise man on this account most men pretend and irrigate to themselves things of this kind for they possess the above mentioned qualities the semblers or the ironical however who speak less than the truth appear indeed to be more elegant in their manners for they do not seem to speak for the sake of gain but in consequence of avoiding fastidiousness but these persons especially deny that they possess things of an illustrious nature as also Socrates did those however who pretend that they do not possess small things and which are obvious are called crafty or delicate deceivers and are very contemptible men sometimes also this species of dissimulation appears to be arrogance such for instance as the garments of the Lacedemonians for excess and very great deficiency alike pertain to arrogance but those who moderately use irony and are ironical in things which are not very much known and obvious appear to be elegant men the arrogant man however seems to be opposed to the man of veracity for he is a worse character chapter 8 since however there is a certain relaxation in life and rest from labor and since this remission is accompanied with jesting it appears that here also there is a certain elegant method of conversation in which such things are said as are proper and are delivered in a proper manner and similarly with respect to hearing what it is proper to hear and hearing it in such a way as is fit but there is a difference in speaking to some persons rather than to others and in hearing some things rather than others it is evident however that in these things also there is an excess and deficiency with respect to the medium those therefore who exceed in the ridiculous appear to be scurrilous and troublesome for they entirely affect the ridiculous and aim more at exciting laughter than at speaking in a becoming manner and not giving pain to the object of their ridicule but those who do not see themselves anything ridiculous and are indignant with those who do appear to be rustic and rigorous those however in versatile as being of a flexible genius for of manners there appear to be such like motions but as a judgment is formed of bodies from motions so likewise of manners since however there is a redundancy of the ridiculous and most men delight in jests and caviling more than is proper the scurrilous also are called versatile as being polite and pleasant but that they differ and in no small degree is evident from what has been said to the middle habit also dexterity is appropriate but it is the province of a dexterous man to say and hear such things as are adapted to a worthy and liberal man for there are certain things which have become such a one to say and here in jest and the jesting of a liberal differs from that of a servile man and again the jesting of an erudite differs from that of an ineridite man but the truth of this may be seen both in ancient and modern comedies for in the former the ridiculous consisted in obscenity but in the latter the suspicion of obscenity rather excited laughter these things however differ in no small degree with respect to the decorous and elegant whether therefore is he who ridicules well to be defined by this that he says what it becomes a liberal man to say or by this that he does not pain or that he delights the hearer or shall we say that a thing of this kind is indefinite for a different thing is odious and pleasing to a different person he will also hear things of this kind viz things that are adapted to a worthy and liberal man for such things as a man endures to hear such also he appears to do he will not therefore do or say everything for cavilling is a certain invective legislators however forbids certain invectives and perhaps it would be proper that they should also forbid cavilling the elegant and liberal man therefore will so conduct himself as if he were a law to himself hence the middle character is a man of this description whether he is to be denominated dexterous or versatile but the scurrilous man is vanquished by the ridiculous and neither spares himself nor others if he can excite laughter he likewise says such things as the elegant man would never say and some things that he says the elegant man would not even endure to hear the rustic man however is useless with respect to such conversations for contributing nothing he is indignant with all of them but relaxation and jesting appear to be necessary to the life of man there are therefore the above mentioned three media in life but all of them are conversant meaning of certain words and actions they differ however because one of them is conversant with truth but the others are conversant with the delectable but of the media which pertain to pleasure one indeed is conversant with jests but the other with the associations which belong to the rest of life chapter nine with respect to shame it is not fit to speak of it as of a certain virtue for it resembles passion more than habit it is defined therefore to be a certain dread of infamy and similar to fear it is exercised about dreadful things for those who are under the influence of shame become red or blush but those who have the fear of death upon them are pale hence both these appear to be in a certain respect corporeal which seems rather to belong to passion than to habit this passion however is not adapted to every age but to youth for we think it requisite that young persons should be bashful because they commit many errors in consequence of living from passion but are restrained from the commission of them by shame and we praise indeed bashful young men but no one praises a bashful old man for we think that he ought not to do anything for which he should be ashamed for neither does shame pertain to a worthy man since it is produced by bad conduct for the things which cause shame are not to be done but it makes no difference whether some things are in reality base but others only base according to opinion for neither of these are to be done so that shame is not to be admitted the thing of this kind also is to do something base is the province of a bad man but for a man to be so disposed as to be ashamed if he should do anything that is base and to fancy himself on this account to be a worthy character is absurd for shame pertains to voluntary actions but a worthy man never voluntarily acts basely shame however from hypothesis may seem to be good for if a worthy man should act basely he would be ashamed but this does not pertain to the virtues nor if impudence is a bad thing and not to be ashamed when acting basely will it be at all a more worthy thing to be ashamed when performing base deeds neither is continents a virtue but a certain mixed thing this however we shall discuss hereafter but let us now speak concerning justice End of book 4 Recording in memory of Mitchell Edwards