A great society is one where the individuals consider acquiring good character for themselves a greater achievement than wealth or any cause. To cultivate a cooperative society it is necessary to focus on character traits rather than physical traits or associations. Unfortunately people lose sight of this along a path of compromises and forgetfulness. Staying faithful to ourselves takes constant work and we are always learning. We make laws to deal with those who stray too far from good character. The worse a society becomes the more laws and enforcement are needed. Those who are considerate and have good character need very few laws. With all this talk about good character it would behoove us to look at what good really means and this is where we will continue.
After looking at the three areas of good; honor, advantage and pleasure, with their opposites; shame, loss and misery, a question remains: Why would anyone do things that cause shame, loss, or make themselves miserable? This question has been asked through the centuries. The political answer would concern injustices; the religious answer would address sin or a dark force; the psychological answer would have to do with past experiences. Aristotle simplified it into a question of how one manages pleasure and pain.

We can’t say that pain is always bad. As a matter of fact, the things that are worthwhile are the things that are the hardest to acquire. We see this in the arts; the things that are the most complex and hardest to make are the most admired. In the same way, a person who has been through a struggle and continues to work and improve their character is someone to be admired. Those who become cynical and blame others might get pleasure out of it, but aren’t improving their situation. If we always took pleasure in doing what is right, there wouldn’t be many problems. But all of us have areas that give us pleasure yet can hinder our lives. To be temperate or disciplined is the term used for the times when a person is controlling those areas. The goal of having good character is to go after the things that are pleasurable yet avoid excesses that can take away from the quality of life overall.

With a product of art it is usually easy to recognize excellence in quality since it is standing in front of you. Genuine character is a bit harder since motives cannot be observed. Someone might act a certain way because they are under restraints and yet their heart isn’t in it. We wonder if politicians or bosses really mean what they say. To say someone is genuine means that their heart lines up with their actions. Sometimes out of necessity, we all have to act a certain way to be honorable with the hope that our motives will eventually line up. Those who not only lose the enjoyment but also lose self discipline are what we call “burned out”. Genuine enjoyment can happen over time in most things and it is always refreshing when duty is no longer a matter of self discipline but a matter of the heart. We see this in sports and music. The practices can be a matter of pain but after skill is acquired over time it can become a pleasure.