Book 4, Chapter 15

34 “Since, as we have said of virtue elsewhere and shall often have to say again—for most questions about life and conduct flow from virtue as their source—since, then, virtue is a steady and harmonious disposition of the soul, making those who possess it praiseworthy and itself worthy of praise in its own right and by its own nature, even apart from any advantage, from it arise honorable wishes, judgments, and actions, and all right reason. Indeed, virtue itself may be defined most briefly as right reason. Opposed to virtue is viciousness: I prefer that term to malice for what the Greeks call κακία, since malice names one particular vice, whereas viciousness embraces them all. From it are stirred disturbances which, as we said a little earlier, are turbulent and excited movements of the soul, turned away from reason and deeply hostile to a tranquil mind and life. They bring anxious and bitter distress, and crush and weaken souls with fear. They also inflame them with excessive appetite, which we call sometimes desire, sometimes lust—a kind of loss of self-command utterly at variance with temperance and moderation.

35 “If it ever obtains what it has coveted, it will be so carried away with excitement that ‘nothing it does is steady,’ as that character says who regards ‘excessive pleasure of the soul as the greatest error.’ The cure for these evils, then, lies in virtue alone.”

34 “We’ve spoken about virtue elsewhere, and we’ll often need to speak about it again. Most questions about life and character flow from virtue as their source. Virtue, then, is a steady, consistent disposition of mind. It makes the people who have it praiseworthy, and is itself worth praising simply for what it is, in and of itself, even apart from any advantage it brings. From it come morally right wishes, judgments, and actions, and all right reasoning. In fact, the shortest definition of virtue itself might be ‘right reason.’ The opposite of this virtue is defectiveness. I prefer that word to ‘malice’ for the Greek kakia: malice names one particular defect, while defectiveness covers them all. From it disturbances are stirred up: as we said a little earlier, these are turbulent, agitated movements of the mind, turned away from reason and deeply hostile to a peaceful mind and life. They bring anxious, bitter distress, and they batter and weaken the mind with fear. They also set it on fire with excessive appetite, which we call sometimes desire, sometimes craving. This is a kind of mental loss of control, very far removed from self-restraint and moderation.

35 “If it ever gets what it wanted, it then gets so carried away with excitement that it has ‘no steady idea’ what it’s doing, as in the words of the man who thinks ‘too much mental pleasure is the greatest mistake.’ The cure for these evils lies in virtue alone.”