Meanness or Littleness

Magnificence aspires to great things and does notshrink from paying for them. Yet it is not foolish, norover-lavish, nor wasteful; for it is a virtue, and therefore anordinate thing, a thing in good relation to reason. Opposed to thisvirtue of magnificence is the vice of littleness or meanness. Thisvice either (a) aspires to little things only, when greater shouldbe attempted; or (b) exercises a pinchpenny care which refuses tonoble enterprise its full greatness of execution.

Magnificence, to which littleness or meanness isopposed, is not the direct contrary of this vice. For magnificencestands between two opposed vices, namely, meanness on theone hand, and wastefulnessor prodigality on the other. A meanman spends less than his undertaking is worth; a wasteful manspends more than the work deserves.