nobility and goodness, n.All

Nobility and goodness (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠lacking in the Laconian kind of virtue, held for the sake of the natural goods it brings: such men are good, but they never choose the noble for itself.

Nobility and goodness (n.) turns ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the profitable into the noble: to the perfect man wealth, birth and power are fitting and so noble, while for the many the profitable and the noble never coincide.

Nobility and goodness (n.) belong ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to the man for whom the good things are actually good — who can have wealth and power and not be spoilt by them; one who shrinks from having anything good does not qualify.