Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“And so the good man ought to be Self-loving: because by doing what is noble he will have advantage himself and will do good to others.”
- Source
- Nicomachean Ethics
- Date
- 4th century BCE
- English wording
- D. P. Chase — Translator · from Ancient Greek
Meaning of “And so the good man ought to be…”
Aristotle distinguishes a worthy form of self-love from selfish appetite: the good person values the rational and noble part of life in a way that benefits both the self and other people.
Where does it come from?
Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX, Chapter VIII, Project Gutenberg #8438. The surrounding argument explicitly contrasts this noble “Self-loving” with the blameworthy form that grasps at wealth, honours and bodily pleasures, so the line is not a defense of simple selfishness.
