Thadeus’s Reviews > If Aristotle's Kid Had an iPod: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Parents > Status Update

"Herein lies the problem: your kid doesn't know the difference between a real good and a perceived good...Perceived goods will not necessarily lead her to happiness. Real goods will."

"Without both virtue and friendship, your kid will never reach the amount of happiness that God desires for him."

"Most of your kid's life is a struggle over choosing between good and evil, but she was made for more. She was made to breakthrough to virtue, where all struggle ceases and inner harmony resides."

"Kids must learn at an early age to look for the good. This is the most important step in becoming a truly courageous person."

"Your kid will face a very big question in life: Are you going to do what is good, or are you going to do what feels good?"

"As your kids grow older, Aristotle says that true friends move each other 'to noble deeds.' Here lies the highest form of friendship. The most perfect friendship helps each friend strive for virtue."

"It's become sort of culture shock when we unplug. Social interaction requires give and take. It takes unselfishness. It takes understanding. Our kids aren't learning any of this from their iPods."

"Our kids are conditioned to get exactly what they want, when they want it. The song they want to listen to is immediately available on their iPod. And it's immediately downloadable on their computer if it's not on their iPod. If they want a pizza, it's there in thirty minutes, just how they want it. The characters they play on their video games move and act and think according to the buttons they push."

"According to Aristotle, there are three prerequisites for a true friendship: 1. Both people must be virtuous. 2. Both people must care more about loving rather than being loved. 3. You can only have a few true friends."