Moral qualities are so constituted as to be destroyed by excess and by deficiency . . .

Self-sufficiency is both a good and an absolute good.

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.

Greatness of Soul seems therefore to be as it were a crowning ornament of the virtues; it enhances their greatness, and it cannot exist without them. Hence it is hard to be truly great-souled, for greatness of soul is impossible without moral nobility.

When a draco has eaten much fruit, it seeks the juice of the bitter lettuce; it has been seen to do this.

The coward calls the brave man rash, the rash man calls him a coward.

Good moral character is not something that we can achieve on our own. We need a culture that supports the conditions under which self-love and friendship flourish.