Some do it well; others ill; according to the practice, so will be the resulting character; as he that is practised in building badly, will be a bad builder in the end; and he that begins on a bad habit of playing the harp, becomes confirmed into a bad player.

Hence the importance of making the young perform good actions habitually and from the beginning.

The permanent ethical acquirements are generated by uniform and persistent practice (I.).

[This is the earliest statement of the philosophy of _habit_.] Everything thus turns upon practice: and Aristotle reminds us that his purpose here is, not simply to teach what virtue is, but to produce virtuous agents.

How are we to know what the practice should be?
It must be conformable to right reason: every one admits this, and we shall explain it further in a future book.