Character’s Target, Character Models, & Character’s Long Arc
Wednesday Wisdoms for June 11, 2025
Mind Candy is a newsletter on practical philosophy and human flourishment—aka how to live “the good life.” Each month we tackle a new theme.
This month we’re exploring the theme of Morality.
Welcome to Wednesday Wisdom, our 3x3 Newsletter where I distill worldly advice for better living with 3 quotes, 3 observations, and 3 questions.
Character’s Target
🤨 Quote
“No one wishes for what he thinks to be bad.”
Aristotle
Source: Eudemian Ethics
Observation 🧐
On the face of it, building one’s moral character is as simple as living a virtuous life. But what separates one person’s character from another?
Aristotle says it is what we are shooting at.
A person of good moral character does not hold the end result as the highest good. Instead, it is the attempt to live a virtuous life, practicing the virtues, and striving for the best outcome, but not holding the outcome as the greatest good.
In other words, it is about how we act towards our end goals, ensuring our actions are in alignment with our internal goal of virtue. Vicious ends, to the contrary, look to external goals as their main objective.
These individuals tie their progress and growth to whether or not they win, achieve the goal, or receive some form of external accomplishment.
By focusing on the end goal rather than the internal, the vicious agent loses sight of how to be virtuous, as they only care about achieving the end results, blinding them to the vice-like actions they may take to in order to achieve it.
Therefore, to improve our moral character, we should reflect upon the advice Christopher Ryan once posed:
“If character is destiny, then perhaps our destiny can be found in a better understanding of our character.”
🤔 Question
As you go about building your moral character, ask yourself consistently, am I doing this for some form of external validation or for the internal growth it will provide?
Character Models
🤨 Quote
“Thinking about moral character not only helps us illuminate differences between people, it can also shed light on moral questions about how we should live.”
Justin Tosi & Brandon Warmke
Source: Grandstanding
Observation 🧐
Everyone online today is asking you to follow them because they think they have something to offer.
The question we should ask ourselves when thinking of following someone online is: will this person help me to be a better version of myself?
The old adage of you are the sum of the people you hang around with is the same online as it is in the real world.
The time and attention you give to people online will eventually help formulate how you act and who you become.
We should make sure it is what we want.
🤔 Question
How often do you follow someone based upon what they can provide you in your growth? What about them calls to you that you want to learn from them?
Beneath the paywall this week we explore the wisdom of Dave Jolly. Click below to support and get access.