'Freedom is obedience to self-formulated rules.'― Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics. 'Aristotle numbers among the greatest philosophers of all time. Judged solely in terms of his philosophical influence, only Plato is his peer.' ― Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 'If Plato's prose was silver, Aristotle's was a flowing river of gold.' ― Cicero. Aristotle's The Nicomachean Ethics (sometimes known merely as Ethics) is one of the most influential works on ethics. It addresses the question of how to live well: It argues that the happy life, the flourishing life, is promoted by the pursuit of virtues. These he divides into virtues of the mind (including knowledge, wisdom and insight), which are learned, and virtues of the character (including courage, justice and generosity), which are gained by practice. He explains that practical reasoning and friendship are essential to a flourishing life and that the highest form of friendship is based on the admiration of the virtues of the other.