Full Idea
Virtuous acts are not done justly or temperately because of their quality, but because they are done in a certain way.
Clarification
'Virtue' here is the Greek word 'areté', which also translates as 'excellence'
Gist of Idea
Actions are not virtuous because of their quality, but because of the way they are done
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1105a29)
Book Reference
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.97
A Reaction
These seems to be the contrast between correct behaviour because of a cold sense of duty (sometimes associatied with Kant), and the pleasure of acting with true virtue.