Treatise on the Morals and Discipline of Human Conduct

...exceeds, which indeed by excess, according to my Doctor, Saint Thomas Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the influential Dominican friar and theologian whose "Summa Theologiae" the author is likely paraphrasing here., can happen in two ways. One way is from the very species of the actions which are taken up in the game—as when, in the said game, shameful things are assumed, or things which tend toward the harm of one's neighbor, which are of themselves evil. And such a player exceeding in the game
Buffoon is called a buffoon original: "bomolochus" (βωμολοχος); a term from Aristotle’s Ethics describing someone who cannot resist a joke, even at the expense of decency or others' feelings. by the Philosopher Aristotle.. In another way, there can be excess in the game according to the deformity of the due circumstances, such as when someone uses the game in prohibited places and times, for instance during Lent original: "quadragesima"; the forty-day period of penance before Easter. or on feast days; and for these reasons, acts are vicious which would otherwise be done lawfully in other places and times that are not prohibited.

However, a defect on the part of the game exists when someone shows himself to be entirely burdensome to others, namely while he offers nothing delightful to them, and indeed even hinders the lawful enjoyment of others. Because they act against their reason, such people are vicious and are called boorish original: "agrestes"; referring to the "as agroikos" or the "churlish" person in Aristotelian ethics who lacks a sense of humor. by the Philosopher; yet they are less vicious than those who offend by excess in the game.

There is, however, another manner of gaming which ought to consist in the "middle" This refers to the Aristotelian "Golden Mean," the virtuous path between two extremes., or to have its being there, if it be done moderately and is regulated according to the judgment of reason, which can be seen in this way: for just as a person needs bodily rest for the refreshment original: "refocillatio"; literally a "re-warming" or reviving of the spirit. of the body, because he cannot labor heavily forever since his strength is finite and proportioned to specific labors, so it is on the part of the soul, whose power is likewise finite and proportioned to various operations. But if it extends itself beyond its measure into certain operations by laboring, it becomes fatigued from this, especially when the body labors at the same time with the operations of the soul.

Therefore, the soul needs to sometimes occupy itself with honorable games for a certain refreshment, in order to expel the fatigue which it acquired from labors. This is why the Philosopher says in the eighth book of the Politics that everyone who labors needs rest; indeed, rest is natural for those who labor, as it is a medicine for the weariness that consists in labor. Only let the game be for the sake of rest, and especially the game of the musical art is beneficial.