"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"
- Aristotle
About this Quote
Aristotle's quote talks to the concept that quality is not something that is accomplished through a single act, but rather through a procedure of training and habituation. He suggests that we do not have virtue or quality because we have acted rightly, but rather that we act rightly because we have virtue or excellence. This suggests that quality is something that is developed in time, through repeated actions and practices. Aristotle's quote likewise recommends that we become what we repeatedly do, which quality is not an act, but a habit. This implies that quality is something that is cultivated and maintained through constant effort and dedication. Eventually, Aristotle's quote speaks with the concept that quality is something that is made through hard work and dedication, instead of something that is accomplished through a single act.