Possibly the single most influential philosopher (if not thinker) of all time, Aristotle’s works cover an astounding array of insight in mathematics, biology, physics, philosophy (go figure) and more. Through his massive contribution, he has been referred to as the determiner of the orientation of Western intellectual history. There might be no better man to learn from – especially on the subject of how we might live our best life.

Born in 384 BC, Aristotle’s father was the primary physician to the king of Macedonia. Relatively little is known of Aristotle’s youth, but there is good evidence to believe that both of his parents died early in his life. Though the exact dates vary, it seems clear that Aristotle came to study under Plato around the age of seventeen. When Plato died and left his Academy to his nephew Speusippus, Aristotle went off to Asia Minor to begin his own school. 

One of Aristotle’s principal works is his Nicomachean Ethics, is a fascinating text dealing with his understanding of happiness through reason. In coming to understand happiness for Aristotle, the cultivation of the self seems to be essential – a thought expressed well in the context of virtue by the following quotation:

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” 

This quote is pivotal in Aristotle’s virtue ethics, and its lesson can be applied to us all – at least on a practical level. Aristotle believes that we are what we do regularly, that our characters are shaped by our own kind of self-conditioning.

Here Aristotle seems to acknowledge the deterministic forces that affect us from within and without. He seems to recognize that as humans we are creatures of habit, and that our lives are firmly forged by the patterns of thought and behavior that we habitually run through.

So… can we label people by what they do frequently? Its probably not ideal to pidgeon-hole people entirely to traits, but think about this: why do you call your shy friend your “shy friend”? Is it because he once was tentative to voice his opinion or disagree with someone verbally? Of course not, he is your “shy friend” because he’s the friend that consistently acts in a shy fashion. He has consistently responded to social situations by reserving his own position, by responding with fear to asserting his personality and views.

If you wish to become responsible with your money, will you call this task complete after restraining your buying impulses twice in the same week? This would seem ridiculous, saving and investing effectively involves knowledge and consistent action. Becoming “one who saves and invests well” implies action over the course of a lifetime, it implies a honing of our values and our regular routes of behavior. In Aristotle’s understanding, those who are responsible (or “act rightly”) with their money are not so because they are innately virtuous people, but because they have cultivated this virtue by consistently and consciously dealing with their money intelligently.

If we espouse to Aristotle’s beliefs here, we may be let down by the understanding that we may not have been born with traits and habits that we see as ideal – but it would make more sense to be liberated by the understanding that we are able to constantly craft ourselves towards these ideals.

It might be exceptionally valuable to ask ourselves: what habits are we cultivating?  Are they those in line with our idea of “excellence,” of “virtue”? What kind of a self are we consciously – … or unconsciously – crafting? How we shape our character helps determine how we shape our destiny. If you take anyone’s word for, let it be Aristotle’s.

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