Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
H. Rackham, Ed.

2. [6] （For as we said at the outset,¹ a disposition is defined by the activities in which it is displayed, and by the objects to which it is related.） So the magnificent man's expenditure is suitable as well as great. And consequently the objects he produces must also be great and suitable; for so only will a great expenditure be suitable [to the result²] as well. Hence, as the object produced must be worthy of the expenditure, so also must the expenditure be worthy of or even exceed the object produced. 2. [7] Again, the motive of the munificent man in such expenditure will be the nobility of the action, this motive being characteristic of all the virtues. 2. [8] Moreover he will spend gladly and lavishly, since nice calculation is shabby; 2. [9] and he will think how he can carry out his project most nobly and splendidly, rather than how much it will cost and how it can be done most cheaply. 2. [10] The magnificent man will therefore necessarily be also a liberal man. For the liberal man too will spend the right amount in the right manner; and it is in the amount and manner of his expenditure that the element ‘great’ in the magnificent or ‘greatly splendid’³ man, that is to say his greatness, is shown, these being the things in which Liberality is displayed. And the magnificent man from an equal outlay will achieve a more magnificent result⁴; for the same standard of excellence does not apply to an achievement as to a possession: with possessions the thing worth the highest price is the most honored, for instance gold, but the achievement most honored is one that is great and noble （since a great achievement arouses the admiration of the spectator, and the quality of causing admiration belongs to magnificence）; and excellence in an achievement involves greatness. 2. [11] Now there are some forms of expenditure definitely entitled honorable, for instance expenditure on the service of the gods—