--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But what is happiness? If we consider…" description: "\"But what is happiness? If we consider what the function of man is, we find that happiness is a virtuous activity of the soul.\" — Aristotle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec5/aristotle-78_activity_but-what-is-happiness-if-we-consider-wha_1756172.png" --- # But what is happiness? If we consider what the function of… ![“But what is happiness? If we consider what the function of man is, we find that happiness is a virtuous activity of the soul.” quote by Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec5/aristotle-78_activity_but-what-is-happiness-if-we-consider-wha_1756172.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec5/aristotle-78_activity_but-what-is-happiness-if-we-consider-wha_1756172.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec5/aristotle-78_activity_but-what-is-happiness-if-we-consider-wha_1756172.png) > “But what is happiness? If we consider what the function of man is, we find that happiness is a virtuous activity of the soul.” [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Happiness is achieved through virtuous activity of the soul, aligning actions with moral excellence. **In simple terms:** Virtue leads to true happiness. Key Takeaway Cultivate virtuous habits. Themes ethics well‑being purpose Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - education - leadership - community service Key Concepts eudaimonia virtue ethics Questions to Reflect On - What virtues do you practice daily? - How do you define a virtuous life? A Different Perspective Virtue alone may not guarantee happiness if external conditions are harsh. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Happiness Consider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-consider-1649009/) [Happiness Virtuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness-virtuous-1649008/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Man Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-happiness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Virtuous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuous/) [Virtuous Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuous-activity-1649010/) [What is happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-is-happiness/) ## Related quotes > [Happiness lies in virtuous activity, and perfect happiness lies in the best activity, which is contemplative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-lies-in-virtuous-activity-and-perfect-happiness-lies-in-the/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It must not be supposed that happiness will demand many or great possessions; for self-sufficiency does not depend on excessive abundance, nor does moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/it-must-not-be-supposed-that-happiness-will-demand-many-or-great/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [... hitherto we have been permitted to seek beauty only in the morally good - a fact which sufficiently accounts for our having found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/hitherto-we-have-been-permitted-to-seek-beauty-only-in-the-morally/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The Stoic makes no differentiation between a small act of kindness by a simple person and a great act of virtue from a learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-stoic-makes-no-differentiation-between-a-small-act-of-kindness-by/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [A man's happiness consists in the free exercise of his highest faculties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/a-man-s-happiness-consists-in-the-free-exercise-of-his-highest/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [And what is happiness, Nathan? In my experience, it's only a moment's pause here and there on what is otherwise a long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kent-krueger/and-what-is-happiness-nathan-in-my-experience-it-s-only-a-moment-s/) [William Kent Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kent-krueger/) > [“Happiness is the ultimate inner experience of living with generosity, love, kindness, compassion, and gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/happiness-is-the-ultimate-inner-experience-of-living-with-generosity/) [Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/) > [After all, what is happiness? Love, they tell me. But love doesn't bring and never has brought happiness. On the contrary, it's a constant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/after-all-what-is-happiness-love-they-tell-me-but-love-doesn-t-bring/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I think happiness is what makes you pretty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-barrymore/i-think-happiness-is-what-makes-you-pretty/) [Drew Barrymore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-barrymore/) > [Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/just-because-they-re-not-on-your-road-doesn-t-mean-they-ve-gotten-lost/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Beingness, doingness and havingness are like a triangle where each side supports the others. They are not in conflict with each other. They all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakti-gawain/beingness-doingness-and-havingness-are-like-a-triangle-where-each/) [Shakti Gawain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakti-gawain/) > [So what is happiness? I am sure this question will be asked through the ages. And I doubt there is one answer for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/so-what-is-happiness-i-am-sure-this-question-will-be-asked-through/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [“HAPPINESS I ASKED the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell      me what is happiness. And I went to famous executives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/happiness-i-asked-the-professors-who-teach-the-meaning-of-life-to/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/when-i-went-to-school-they-asked-me-what-i-wanted-to-be-when-i-grew/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [We are seldom happy with what we now have, but would go to pieces if we lost any part of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/we-are-seldom-happy-with-what-we-now-have-but-would-go-to-pieces-if/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) ## More by Aristotle > [The knowledge of the soul admittedly contributes greatly to the advance of truth in general, and, above all, to our understanding of Nature, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-knowledge-of-the-soul-admittedly-contributes-greatly-to-the/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/young-men-have-strong-passions-and-tend-to-gratify-them/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The body is at its best between the ages of thirty and thirty-five; the mind is at its best about the age of forty-nine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-body-is-at-its-best-between-the-ages-of-thirty-and-thirty-five/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Although it may be difficult in theory to know what is just and equal, the practical difficulty of inducing those to forbear who can,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/although-it-may-be-difficult-in-theory-to-know-what-is-just-and-equal/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-true-forms-of-government-therefore-are-those-in-which-the-one-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [All men by nature desire to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/all-men-by-nature-desire-to-know/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/all-persons-ought-to-endeavor-to-follow-what-is-right-and-not-what-is/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Give a man a poisoned fish, you feed him for the rest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/give-a-man-a-fish-you-feed-him-for-a-day-give-a-man-a-poisoned-fish/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The man who confers a favour would rather not be repaid in the same coin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-man-who-confers-a-favour-would-rather-not-be-repaid-in-the-same/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The mother of revolution and crime is poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-mother-of-revolution-and-crime-is-poverty/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Obstinate people can be divided into the opinionated, the ignorant, and the boorish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/obstinate-people-can-be-divided-into-the-opinionated-the-ignorant-and/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/happiness-does-not-consist-in-pastimes-and-amusements-but-in-virtuous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [To learn is a natural pleasure, not confined to philosophers, but common to all men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/to-learn-is-a-natural-pleasure-not-confined-to-philosophers-but/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Every virtue is a mean between two extremes, each of which is a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/every-virtue-is-a-mean-between-two-extremes-each-of-which-is-a-vice/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) [Explore all 1,545 Aristotle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) [Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But what is happiness? 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