The concept, often attributed to Aristotle, that virtues, or the right actions, lie between two extremes: an excess and deficiency of a particular quality.
Examples:
Courage as the virtue between cowardice and rashness.
Generosity as the vitrue between greed and wastefulness.
Modesty as the vitrue between shyness and shamefulness.
Definition: The middle course between two extremes.
Reference: Socrates applied the idea of the golden mean to education - arguing that exclusively working on specific skills makes one unbalanced. For example, gymnastics could breed hardness and strength, music could breed softness. Combining the two is optimal.
Example: Courage (virtue) lies between the extremes of recklessness (excess courage) and cowardice (a deficiency of courage).
Insight: The concept of balance and harmony suggested in the concept of the golden mean is found in a number of philosophies. Buddhism: the 'middle way' is between sensual luxury and self mortification.
Insight: Aristotle's golden mean provides a guide to virtue: "Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in the mean which is defined by reference to reason. It is a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency."
Insight: The golden mean requires that the virtuous person responds to the right degree depending on the situation.
Example: Courage as the mean between cowardice and foolhardy bravado.
Insight: Aristotle, with the concept of the 'golden mean' is not arguing for absolute moderation in all things, because the mean is different for different people in different contexts.
Reference: Aristotle: virtuous action is the mean between two extremes. For example the vices of excess and deficiency lie on either side of the middle path, the right course.
Example: Enough as the virtue between deficiency and excess.
Reference: Aristotle developed the golden mean as a way to think about virtues as the balance between two extremes.
Reference: Aristotle's concept of the golden mean. His most famous pupil was Alexander the Great, who never grasped the concept, which ultimately led to his demise.
Example: Courage is between cowardice and recklessness.
Example: Generosity is between profligacy and parsimony.
Insight: Where the golden mean actually is can often be hard to tell, but without it we risk dangerous extremes.
Insight: We can use the golden mean to navigate ego and achieve meaningful outcomes. Endless ambition is easy and we can put our foot on the gas too much, complacency is also easy. Finding the middle ground is somewhere between the "undisciplined pursuit of more" (Jim Collins) and complacency that comes with plaudits.
Definition: Aristotle's doctrine that the right action lies between two extremes.
Example: The virtue of courage lies between two vices: cowardice and rashness.
Example: The virtue of modesty lies between two vices: shyness and shamelessness.
Insight: It is a misinterpretation that the golden mean is about moderation in all things. A virtuous person does not always act in moderation - a 'moderate' response to someone attacking a child for example would not be appropriate.
Definition: Every virtue is a mean between two extremes, each of which is a vice.
Example: Courage is a mean between cowardice and rashness.
Example: Proper pride is a mean between vanity and humility.
Insight: Aristotle preached the doctrine of the Golden Mean to his student Alexander the Great.
Insight: Some virtues do not seem to fit within the scheme of the golden mean - for example truthfulness.
Reference: Aristotle concluded that virtue consists in the golden mean between opposite extremes of traits.
Insight: The key to working towards a golden mean is to develop what you lack. Everyone can strengthen what they are missing.
Insight: Many people specialise in specific traits, which means that they neglect complementary traits and become one dimensional. Creatives are exceptions to this.
Definition: Virtues lie between two extremes.
Example: Bravery lies between foolhardiness and cowardice.
Insight: The good life, according to many modern and ancient philosophers, should be about developing virtues, so rather than developing along extremes, we should try to aim for the golden mean.
Example: The virtue of courage lies between cowardice and rashness.
Insight: The golden mean is central in Aristotle's concept of virtue. It is often mistaken as a call for moderation, but this is not his meaning. According to Aristotle the meaning is defined with reference to reason or context.
Reference: Aristotle: "Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in the mean which is defined by reference to reason. It is a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency."
Definition: The moderate middle between two polar extremes.
Insight: Achieving the golden mean or completely balanced life is no particularly practical, as context determines where we can and should position ourselves between extremes.
Insight: Extraordinary results often require operating at an extreme.
Example: Courage as the golden mean between cowardice and impetuousness.
Reference: Aristotle taught that to develop qualities we lack we should act as if we have that quality in every situation that it is called for.
Insight: In excess, most things take on the characteristics of their opposite: freedom fighters become tyrants, blessings become curses, more becomes less.
Principle: Examine areas of life that have become excess.
Insight: According to Aristotle we should avoid going to the extremes in life. For every virtue there are two opposing vices, one which may be more easily avoided than the other.
Example: The virtue of courage lies between cowardice and impetuosity.
Reference: Aristotle concluded that each virtue is a 'golden mean' between two extremes, and the goal of humans should be to reach the golden mean in each virtue or quality.
Example: Courage is a virtue between the undesirable traits of recklessness and cowardice.
Reference: Aristotle envisaged the spectrum of a virtue with an optimal value in the middle - which he called the Golden Mean.
Insight: The idea that we should be moderate in all things is not what Aristotle meant by striking the middle path. He says that the mean should be defined by reason.
Reference: Aristotle: "Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in the mean which is defined by reference to reason. It is a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency."
Reference: Rudolf Flesch (1911-1986), readability expert and writing consultant: advised that the 'golden mean' of sentences is 17 words. Keep sentences short. Use short words.
Key Insights & Principles
Personal Growth
Extremes of any quality can be destructive.
Where the golden mean between vices lies can depend on context, and therefore moderation in all actions and qualities does not contribute to virtue.
Everyone can strengthen what they are missing.
The good life can be about developing ones virtues.
Develop what you lack.
Examine areas of life or traits that have become excesses.
