The Art of Peace is based on four great virtues: Bravery, Wisdom, Love, and Friendship, symbolized by Fire, Earth, Heaven, and Water.
Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace
For the orator to produce conviction three qualities are necessary; for, independently of demonstrations, the things which induce belief are three in number. These qualities are good sense [phronesis], virtue [arête], and goodwill [eunoia]; for speakers are wrong both in what they say and in the advice they give, because they lack either all three or one of them.
Aristotle, Rhetoric II.1.5
Both aikido and rhetoric can be used to harm people. This has been the chief objection, over many hundreds of years, to both martial arts and rhetoric (recall that I argue rhetoric is in its essence a verbal martial art aimed at peace). Even expert practitioners struggle with the question of when technique becomes force, when persuasion becomes violence.
For both O-Sensei and Aristotle (and other rhetoricians of his era), the key lay in the character of the practitioner. Cicero famously defined the art of rhetoric as vir bonum dicendi peritus, or the good man speaking well. While the founders carve up the space of virtue slightly differently, the common denominators are plain: the will to do the right thing despite the potential blowback; discernment about when and how it is best to take action; and, a genuine desire for the welfare of the people we are working with. Without this foundation in place, we cannot fairly claim to be a practitioner of either art.
The Rookery 