Book 1 / Chapter 7
Paragraph 3 - The Primacy of Happiness
Explanation - Part By Part
"Now such a thing happiness, above all else, is held to be; for this we choose always for self and never for the sake of something else,"
Aristotle is saying that happiness is unique and stands above all other goals because it is something we always desire for its own sake, not as a means to achieve something else. Happiness isn’t like wealth, health, or success, which we often pursue in order to gain or do something else. Instead, happiness is self-sufficient—we want it simply because it’s inherently good and fulfilling in itself.
"but honour, pleasure, reason, and every virtue we choose indeed for themselves (for if nothing resulted from them we should still choose each of them),"
In this part, Aristotle is saying that things like honor, pleasure, reason, and virtues are valuable in and of themselves. In other words, even if these things didn’t lead to anything else—no further benefits or consequences—we would still consider them worth pursuing. They are inherently good or desirable on their own. For example, people want honor for the sense of worth it gives, or they value reason for its intrinsic role in understanding the world. These things don’t need external validation to justify why they’re sought after; they "stand on their own" as valuable.
"but we choose them also for the sake of happiness, judging that by means of them we shall be happy."
Aristotle is saying here that while we value things like honor, pleasure, reason, and virtues because they are worthwhile on their own, we also pursue them because we believe they contribute to our happiness. In other words, these are like "ingredients" or "pathways" to happiness—they're not the ultimate goal but are valued as means to achieve a deeper, more complete state of fulfillment or well-being.
"Happiness, on the other hand, no one chooses for the sake of these, nor, in general, for anything other than itself."
Aristotle is emphasizing that happiness is unique because it is the ultimate goal, the final destination, the thing we aim for in life without using it as a means to achieve something else. Unlike things like honor, pleasure, or virtues—which we might pursue both for their own sake and because they contribute to leading a happy life—happiness stands apart. It is the one thing we desire purely for itself, not to achieve some other goal. Happiness, in this sense, is the endpoint of all our striving and the most "final" of all ends.