Was reading
Nicomachean Ethics and came across these quotes in Book VIII on friendship:
Now it looks as though love were a feeling, friendship [defined as mutual love here] a state of character; for love may be felt just as much towards lifeless things, but mutual love involves choice and choice springs from a state of character; and men wish well to those whom they love, for their sake, not as a result of feeling but as a result of a state of character. (Bk VIII, 1157b29-33)
For a man is not a king unless he is sufficient to himself and excels his subjects in all good things...(Bk VIII, 1160b3-4)
As regards the first, I am reminded of the well-known point of practical Christian ethics that love is a choice and not a feeling, and choices shape character. As regards the second, I think about how wonderful it is to have a King who meets exactly these requirements--the True King.
It may be well-known but it's probably not well-practiced.
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