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Virtue can be divided into two categories: intellectual and moral. Intellectual virtues are developed by teaching and instruction. Moral virtues are developed by force of habit. Moral virtues are not naturally instilled in us; the soul is designed to receive moral virtues, but in order to develop into guiding forces they must be nurtured by habit. The soul acquires moral virtue by exercising it, just as the pianist learns to play the piano by playing …

…which we are more naturally drawn (for instance, people are generally drawn more to cowardice than rashness, so we see courage as the opposite of cowardice, rather than rashness). Despite this, virtue in all things is that which seeks the mean. Commentary The idea of moderation plays a central role in the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, in the histories of Herodotus, and in the surviving plays of Ancient Greece. In this section, Aristotle uses