"Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to..." - Quote by Aristotle
Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit.
More by Aristotle
“Everything that depends on the action of nature is by nature as good as it can be, and similarly everything that depends on art or any rational cause, and especially if it depends on the best of all causes.”
“It is clearly better that property should be private, but the use of it common; and the special business of the legislator is to create in men this benevolent disposition.”
“These two rational faculties may be designated the Scientific Faculty and the Calculative Faculty respectively; since calculation is the same as deliberation, and deliberation is never exercised about things that are invariable, so that the Calculative Faculty is a separate part of the rational half of the soul.”
More on Virtue
“Happiness comes from theperfect practice of virtue.”
“We make ourselves a ladder out of our vices if we trample the vices themselves underfoot.”
“If any man should conceive certain things as being really good, such as prudence, temperance, justice, fortitude, he would not after having first conceived these endure to listen to anything which should not be in harmony with what is really good.”
More on Habit
“To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
“Fear,the worst of all enemies can be effectively cured by forced repetition ofacts of courage”
“Just as, out of habit, one consults a run-down clock as though it were still going, so too one may look at the face of a beautiful woman as though he still loved her.”