Chapter 11

Term 1

The Magnamimous Man

The magnanimous man behaves well in all things: in wealth, power, and every good fortune. He neither rejoices too much in times of prosperity nor is saddened in adverse times, nor delights too much in honours.

Those who have good fortune without virtue are not magnanimous.

He lists the qualities of the magnanimous man.

The magnanimous have in their memory those who have done them good and from whom they have received good things.

It is charateristic of the magnanimous man to have need of nothing or of very little.

It is characteristic of the magnanimous man to do what is great to those who have some place of dignity, because it is difficult to outdo the great and to be held in high esteem by them.

It is characteristic of the magnanimous man to be at leisure and relaxed, since he does not insert himself into any kind of work, except where there is great honour and need. He engages in only few projects, but they are great and noble ones.

The magnanimous man is necessarily open about his hate or friendship, since to keep this hidden is more characteristic of a coward.

The magnanimous man cares more for truth than opinion, because he holds the opinion of men in little esteem.

The magnanimous man is open in his words and deeds. He freely divulges what he does because he pays little attention to others.

The magnanimous man is true in what he says, unless he is speaking ironically.

It is characteristic of the magnanimous man to not be able to plan his life around another, unless it be a friend, since to do so is a servile thing.

The magnanimous man is not given to admiration since nothing is great to him.

The magnanimous man is not mindful of wrongs, but rather he overlooks them.

The magnanimous man is not a gossip, either about himself or others, so that he might not have reason to be praised or others be blamed, or speak poorly of his enemies except because they are doing harm.

The magnanimous man is not given to asking for things in necessary or small matters.

The magnanimous man is more able to possess good and fruitless things rather than fruitful and useful ones.

It is characteristic of the magnanimous man to have a slow and serious demeanor, a deep voice, and a stable way of speaking.

The magnanimous man is neither hurried nor given to contention, because he does not consider anything too great.

The magnanimous man is he who considers himself worthy of what he deserves.

The magnanimous man is at an extreme of greatness, but a mean in what he deserves and that he deserves it.

The magnanimous man is concerned with the one greatest thing.

To be a magnanimous man seems to be concerned with honours, great men regard themselves deserving of honour.

The magnanimous man is worthy of the great things he claims for himself and is therefore the best.

The magnanimous man acts greatly in every virtue and will never flee one going out to war.

It seems to be ludicrous for a man to be magnanimous while not being virtuous.

To be truly magnanimous is a difficult thing.

To be a magnanimous man is related to honours and dishonours, and in great and virtuous things he takes a moderate delight.

The magnanimous man will place little value in honour conferred by passing things or in small matters.

Term 2

Evil Men

Evil men desire pleasure as if it were the good and flee pain as if it were evil. For to them there seems to be no good.

'No one is willingly evil nor unwillingly happy.' The former is false, the latter truthful.

We become evil willingly, but our deeds then make it beyond our power not to be.

No evil man is prudent.

Evil men do not have a stable habits or friendship and so they do not remain constant even to themselves. In a little time they make friends with each other, taking delight in wickedness.

Many evil men wish to perform some good deed, but they do not go through with it, so it is useless.

The lesser of the evils should be taken when it is difficult to attain the mean.

Evil is said in many ways but the good in only one.

Evil destroys itself, and if it were a whole thing it would be unbearable.

A lesser evil is in some sense good.

A lesser evil is more desirable than a greater one.

Term 3

Vice

Vice is a voluntary thing.

We are blamed for bodily vices in our power, but not those outside our power.

Vices are voluntary just as virtues are.

A brute does not have virtue nor vice, and neither does God.

We do not owe pardon for vice or any other kind of blameworthy thing.

Vice corrupts and causes deception in particular principles.

Vice corrupts the first principle, virtue, however preserves it.

One should flee vice intently and strive after whatever is virtuous, because in this way he will act amicably to himself and will be a friend to others.

The evil man harms himself and his neighbor by following after evil passions.

Every evil man is also in some way unknowing.

In an evil man, what he ought to do and what he does differ.

Magnanimity. (Should be a new category.) Nobility, riches, and power seem to confer maganimity, because they have some excellence and make one worthy of honour.

Magnanimity concerns great honour.

Magnanimity regards honours and dishonours. An excess is called presumption, a defect however is pusillanimity.

Magnanimity is an adornment of the other virtues.

What magananimity is most concerned with is that which we attribute to the gods, and what those in dignity desire, the prize of virtues: honour.

Term 4

Magnificence

Magnificence is a mean regarding wealth, but magnificence differs from a liberal man.

Magnificence is a kind of virtue concerned with large sums of wealth.

Magnificence is such spending as we call honourable, for example, votive offerings, funding preparations, and sacrifices.

A child's gift will have great magnificent, even a ball or a jar, despite its price being little and financially insignificant.

The Magnificent Man. (Should be a new category.) The magnificent man is concerned with great things, the liberal man with small things.

The magnificent man outdoes the liberal man in the size of his gift.

A man is not called magnificent who spends what is dignified in small and moderate things, but in great things.

The magnificent man is likened to a wise man.

The magnificent man is more concerned with how he may accomplish what is best and most becoming, rather than in what manner and how cheaply.

To be magnificent one must be liberal, because the magnificent man spends the right amount in the right way.

The magnificent man is a cause of admiration, since all that he does is magnificent and admirable.

In everything regarding the magnificent man, one must take into account his condition and what sort of possessions he has.

Ample possessions befit the fame of a magnificent person, whether he acquires them himself or they were passed down by his ancestors, and are noble by birth and people of distinction.

It is characteristic of the magnificent man that he spend on one-time events such as the weddings of children or some festivity which concerns the whole city, in receiving travellers, in making gifts, and the like.

It is characteristic of the magnificent man to furnish his rooms well with costly things, because the magnificent man spends sums things that adorn his magnificence.

The magnificent man spends a great sum on each thing according to its kind.

Meekness. (Should be a new category.) Meekness is a mean with respect to anger. The excess is called hot-temperedness.

The defect of meekness, which is a mean with respect to anger, does not have a name.

Term 5

The Meek Man

We praise the meek man because he does not wish to be troubled nor led by passsion, but he acts in accord with what reason dictates in every circumstance. He errs on the side of deficiency, because he is not vengeful but he rather makes allowances.

Meekness is less like an excess than to a deficiency.

Hand. (Should be a new category.) The right hand is by nature stronger than the left, but it happens that in some ambidextrous people the left is more useful.

Term 6

Cures

It is characteristic of cures to be effected by their contraries.

Term 7

The Physician

A physician does not deal with health in a universal way, but a man's health, and consequently, he deals with man.

The business of the best physicians is to consider and know about the body.

To know the physicians' means of treatment is an easy thing, but how to use them in different cases and with different complications is as difficult to know as it is to be a physician.

The physician, and every craftsman, will work best when he knows in a universal way, because his knowledge will be useful in every instance.

Some physicians seem to be well-versed in caring for their own ailments, but unable to help anyone else, since they are not able to attend to a condition they have not experienced.

The Mean. (Should be a new category.) He who departs from the mean but a little should not be faulted, but he who goes too far, (this man will not go unnoticed), the man not in the mean, this man is worthy as blame inasmuch as the mean is not easy to find.

Those contending for the mean ought to keep in mind that parts of us are easily changeable by nature, different men tend toward different things. This is obvious from the pleasure and pain we feel. It is necessary, then, for us to drag ourselves in the opposite direction. This way we shall be swayed much from wrongdoing and arrive at the mean.

It is difficult to find the mean in particulars, because sometimes men in deficiency are called meek and the irascible are called manly.

The mean is the opposite of the extreme, just as it is an equal mean between great and small. With respect to the small it is greater, with respect to the great, less.

The mean sometimes has some resemblance to one of the extremes, as courage is likened to rashness, liberality to wastefulness.

In each thing, finding the mean is difficult, for example, finding the mean of a circle is not something everyone can do, but only a person knowledgeable about such a thing. But straying from the mean is an easy thing.

For one aiming at the mean, he must first avoid the extreme which is more opposed to it, such as the example he gives of Calypso.

The mean of a thing is equally distant from either extreme, and is one and the same for all.

The mean as it applies to us is not as the distance from either extremes: since a trainer (a man who understands the matter at hand), will not prescribe eating six pounds, just because eating ten pounds is excessive and two pounds is little, since this will seem much to one man and little to another. And he gives the example of Milo and the champion in gymnastics.

Every wise man desires the mean and flees excess or defect. I say 'mean' in reference to us.

To lay hold of the mean is a difficult thing

The mean is right reason in moral matters.

In all habits of character, the mean is determined in accordance with right reason.

The mean in all pursuits is right reason. For this we need not overexert ourselves.

Term 8

The Mean

Means concern actions and passions.

The mean is worthy of praise in all things. Extremes, however, are neither sound nor worthy of praise, but rather worth of blame.

There are means in the passions.

Men do not become physicians from reading books of medicine, but by being versed in the art of medicine.

Term 9

The Mean Habit

The mean habit is in all things worthy of praise.

The mean habit of anger is praiseworthy if we become angry when we ought in every circumstance. Excess and defect, however, are blameworthy.

The mean habit is praiseworthy when one accepts and refuses what one should.

Term 10

Lie

A lie is a thing evil in itself and should be avoided; truth, however, is good and worth of praise.

Liars are worthy of blame, but more so the boaster.

Measure. (Should be a new category.) Measures are not everywhere equal.

Whether in measuring utility gained, the one making or the one gaining ought to make a return of benefit, or that the other prevents him.

Concerning the measure of a friendship in accord with virtue.

Money is the commonmeasure found in a friendship of utility, to which everything is compared and by which everything is measured.

The measure of all is virtue and goodness.

Term 11

Measurement

How to make a measurement when gifts of this kind are given without an agreement but with hope of repayment. The Philosopher says that it is not only necessary, but even just, for the one who first who had before to lay out and measure repayment such that both the giver and the receive will be treated fairly, such we observe in commerce.

It is necessary to measure all things with one way of measuring which contains everything and accords with truth.

Term 12

Manner /method

The method of going about reasoning from principles or to them, as in the example Plato gives of race track and athletes.

Term 13

The Modest Man

The modest man belittles himself.

Term 14

Motion

As bodies are reckoned by motion, so too is conduct.

Motion is the principle of action in the efficient cause.

It seems that speed and slowness are proper to every movement, even if not absolutely, he says this to account for the moving of the earth.

Every motion relates to time, because every motion happens toward some thing in the future where it will be completed according to its kind. Such as the example given of building when one part, such as a stone or from the fluting of a column.

Term 15

Death

It seems unreasonable to say that death brings happiness.

The dead do not share the good or bad things of their friends, but if something does reach over to them it will be weak and negligable, because there is nothing in them, in degree or kind, that can bring them happiness or take it away.

Death is the end of terrifying things and also the most terrifying thing, since it is the end.

Nothing seems either good or bad to those who are dead.

To die in order to escape poverty or love or another painful thing is not courageous, but more characteristic rather of a coward.

Conduct.(Should be a new category.) There must be something to direct one's conduct so that he does not do evil things, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

A moral habit seems to be in some sense natural, such as in the case of a just or temperate man.

A moral virtue is not only in accordance with right reason, but accompanied by it.

Those who are the same in their custom, upbringing, and education will love each other more.

Term 16

A Loan

Just as borrowers wish the health of those from whom they borrow, that they might not loose what they have, and not the other way round, it is also this way in the giving of gifts. The origin of this explanation was Epicarius.

One must first pay on an owed loan before giving to a friend.

Term 17

Reward

A man ought to return a reward according to the value he judges of the thing he received.

A prince's reward is honour and glory.

Term 18

Mothers

Some man, the king of Persia, sacrificed his mother, on account of his insanity, and ate her.

Mothers love their children more than fathers, because they are more certain of them.

Mothers love their children more, because they labour more for them, they suffer more in giving birth to them.

Term 19

Subject Matter

The level of precision in an inquiry required depends upon what is proper to that field of knowledge.

Term 20

Soldiers

Soldiers are well-versed in military matters, which include many things that are harmless and should not be feared. So they appear courageous setting out calmly to battle; they know how to cause others harm and avoid others' blows.

The best soldiers need not be courageous men. It is enough that they be ready for dangers and have no other good in view. For they fight for temporal goods and trade their life for small gains, but a courageous man gives his life for what is best and for the good of virtue.

Term 21

Multiplicity/ differences in meaning

There is a wide range of differences in meanings (of justice), since some are latent and some more apparent, some close and others remote.

Term 22

Most Evident

It is most evident that there are things higher than man that compose the world.

Term 23

The Mind

The contemplative mind does not move anything.

Term 24

The Minor Premises

Minor premises are the beginning-points for attaining the conclusion.

The minor premise is the beginning-point in investigation.

Term 25

Effeminacy

Effeminacy and incontinence are evil and blameworthy things.

A man is called effiminant who is overcome with pains that many are able to overcome.

The persevering man is opposed to the effeminate man.

The Melancholic. The melancholic and choleric are the least restrained.

The melancholic are always urged by a strong desire.

Term 26

Women

Women are not called incontinent absolutely, since they do not govern their emotions but are governed rather by a soft nature and a deficiency of reason.

Term 27

The Mouse's Squeak

Some fear the squeak of a mouse or a weasel because of its brutishness.

The Milesians

The Milesians are not foolish, but they act as if they were. They are indeed incontinent but not unjust, though they do commit unjust acts.