He certainly would have shunned the attitude of the Puritans as stated by the historian Thomas Macaulay, The Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators. Yet another Aristotelian virtue was generosity. The two vices at either extreme of generosity are vulgarity and stinginess. Aristotle advised that one should always to steer clear of excesses of either extreme, aiming at moderation suitable for the situation. He recognized, however, that some emotions have no mean but are always evils.
Examples are malice or envy.
The way to a virtuous life, as Aristotle saw it, is not by way of reason, as is eudemonia , but through habit. A person of character is one who, due to well-formed habits, never thinks of stealing, cheating or lying. She is so habituated that the virtues have become part of her character such that these temptations never occur to her. Aristotle s vision of ethics was much wider than ours, including all factors that play into the good life. While these are important, the best friends are those between the good, and those who resemble each other in virtue but it is those who wish the good of their friends for their friends sake who are friends in the fullest sense.