Full Idea
Goodness is a state of mental health, bloom and vitality; badness is a state of mental sickness, deformity and infirmity.
Gist of Idea
Goodness is mental health, badness is mental sickness
Source
Plato (The Republic [c.371 BCE], 444e)
Book Reference
Plato: 'Republic', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 1993], p.157
A Reaction
A nice statement of the closeness of goodness to health for the Greeks. The key point is that health is a deeply natural concept, which bridges the fact-value divide.