Full Idea
Deliberate choice …seems to better distinguish people's characters than their actions do.
Gist of Idea
Deliberate choices (rather than actions) best reveal character
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1111b04)
A Reaction
That is, roughly, that we should know people not by what they do, but their reasons for doing them. So attend more closely to what they say than to what they do. I think I agree with this, though is is contrary to the normal view. But see Idea 24327.
Book Reference
Aristotle: 'Nicomachean Ethics', ed/tr. Reeve, C.D.C. [Hackett 2024], p.38
Related Idea
Idea 24327 Character is determined and revealed by how actions are chosen (and not by beliefs) [Aristotle]