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and
such a thing is honor, for honor is clearly the greatest of external goods. Therefore the
great-souled man is he who has the right disposition in relation to honors and disgraces.
3.
[11]
And even without
argument it is evident that honor is the object with which the great-souled are concerned,
since it is honor above all else which great men claim and deserve.3.
[12]
The small-souled man1 falls short both as judged by his own deserts and in comparison with the
claim of the great-souled man; 3.
[13]
the vain man on the other hand exceeds as judged by his own standard,
but does not however exceed the great-souled man.2
3.
[14]
And inasmuch as the great-souled man deserves most, he must be the best of men; for the
better a man is the more he deserves, and he that is best deserves most. Therefore the
truly great-souled man must be a good man. Indeed greatness in each of the virtues would
seem to go with greatness of soul. 3.
[15]
For instance, one cannot imagine the great-souled man running at full
speed when retreating in battle,3 nor acting dishonestly; since what motive for base conduct
has a man to whom nothing is great?4 Considering all the virtues
in turn, we shall feel it quite ridiculous to picture the great-souled man as other than a
good man. Moreover, if he were bad, he would not be worthy of honor, since honor is the
prize of virtue, and the tribute that we pay to the good.
1 3.12,13 should properly follow 3.8.
2 That is, the small-souled man claims less than he deserves and less than the great-souled man deserves and claims; the vain man claims more than he deserves, but not more than the great-souled man deserves and claims.
3 Literally, ‘fleeing swinging his arms at his side,’ i.e. deficient in the virtue of Courage. If this be the meaning, the phrase recalls by contrast the leisurely retirement of Socrates from the stricken field of Delium （Plato, Plat. Sym. 221a）. But the words have been taken with what follows, as illustrating the lack of Justice or Honesty, and the whole translated either ‘outstripping an opponent in a race by flinging the arms backward [which was considered unsportsmanlike], nor fouling,’ or else ‘being prosecuted on a charge of blackmailing, nor cheating in business.’ Emendation would give a buried verse-quotation, ‘To swing his arms in flight, nor in pursuit.’
4 i.e., nothing is of much value in his eyes （cf. 3.30,34）, so that gain, which is a motive to dishonesty with others, is no temptation to him.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 19, translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1934.
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