The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

ambitious, the man who
falls short unambitious, while the intermediate person has no name.
The dispositions also are nameless, except that that of the
ambitious man is called ambition. Hence the people who are at the
extremes lay claim to the middle place; and we ourselves sometimes
call the intermediate person ambitious and sometimes unambitious,
and sometimes praise the ambitious man and sometimes the
unambitious. The reason of our doing this will be stated in what
follows; but now let us speak of the remaining states according to
the method which has been indicated.
    With regard to anger also there is an excess, a deficiency, and
a mean. Although they can scarcely be said to have names, yet since
we call the intermediate person good-tempered let us call the mean
good temper; of the persons at the extremes let the one who exceeds
be called irascible, and his vice irascibility, and the man who
falls short an inirascible sort of person, and the deficiency
inirascibility.
    There are also three other means, which have a certain likeness
to one another, but differ from one another: for they are all
concerned with intercourse in words and actions, but differ in that
one is concerned with truth in this sphere, the other two with
pleasantness; and of this one kind is exhibited in giving
amusement, the other in all the circumstances of life. We must
therefore speak of these too, that we may the better see that in
all things the mean is praise-worthy, and the extremes neither
praiseworthy nor right, but worthy of blame. Now most of these
states also have no names, but we must try, as in the other cases,
to invent names ourselves so that we may be clear and easy to
follow. With regard to truth, then, the intermediate is a truthful
sort of person and the mean may be called truthfulness, while the
pretence which exaggerates is boastfulness and the person
characterized by it a boaster, and that which understates is mock
modesty and the person characterized by it mock-modest. With regard
to pleasantness in the giving of amusement the intermediate person
is ready-witted and the disposition ready wit, the excess is
buffoonery and the person characterized by it a buffoon, while the
man who falls short is a sort of boor and his state is boorishness.
With regard to the remaining kind of pleasantness, that which is
exhibited in life in general, the man who is pleasant in the right
way is friendly and the mean is friendliness, while the man who
exceeds is an obsequious person if he has no end in view, a
flatterer if he is aiming at his own advantage, and the man who
falls short and is unpleasant in all circumstances is a quarrelsome
and surly sort of person.
    There are also means in the passions and concerned with the
passions; since shame is not a virtue, and yet praise is extended
to the modest man. For even in these matters one man is said to be
intermediate, and another to exceed, as for instance the bashful
man who is ashamed of everything; while he who falls short or is
not ashamed of anything at all is shameless, and the intermediate
person is modest. Righteous indignation is a mean between envy and
spite, and these states are concerned with the pain and pleasure
that are felt at the fortunes of our neighbours; the man who is
characterized by righteous indignation is pained at undeserved good
fortune, the envious man, going beyond him, is pained at all good
fortune, and the spiteful man falls so far short of being pained
that he even rejoices. But these states there will be an
opportunity of describing elsewhere; with regard to justice, since
it has not one simple meaning, we shall, after describing the other
states, distinguish its two kinds and say how each of them is a
mean; and similarly we shall treat also of the rational
virtues.
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8
    There are three kinds of disposition, then, two of them vices,
involving excess and deficiency respectively, and one a virtue,
viz. the mean, and all are in a sense opposed to all; for the
extreme states are contrary both to the intermediate state and to
each other, and the intermediate to the extremes; as the equal is
greater relatively to the less, less relatively to the greater, so
the middle states are excessive relatively to the deficiencies,
deficient relatively to the excesses, both in passions and in
actions. For the brave man appears rash relatively to the coward,
and cowardly relatively to the rash man; and similarly the
temperate man appears