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Aristotle on one swallow and happiness

c. 335–322 BCE, Athens (Lyceum). His own words, in the Nicomachean Ethics.

Where and when

c. 335–322 BCEAthens (Lyceum)

about 2,353 years ago

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Aristotle

, Athens (Lyceum)His own words, in the Nicomachean Ethics

In plain words, ours

Happiness takes a whole life. One swallow doesn't make spring, and one good day or a short good spell doesn't make you truly happy.

Moreover, to be happy takes a complete lifetime; for one swallow does not make spring, nor does one fine day; and similarly one day or a brief period of happiness does not make a man supremely blessed and happy.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1.7.16Translated by H. Rackham (1926)Read the full passage (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1.7.16, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

Aristotle, teaching at the Lyceum in Athens, is sketching in his Ethics what the good is for a person. He calls this a rough outline, to be filled in with details later.

Checked claim by claim against: Aristotle opens his school at the Lyceum, the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

About the event it belongs to: Aristotle opens his school at the Lyceum

The Lyceum is best known for the Peripatetic school Aristotle founded there. It carried on under a series of leaders after his lifetime until Sulla destroyed it in 86 BC.

Based on Wikipedia: Lyceum (classical)

It was best known for the Peripatetic school of philosophy founded there by Aristotle in 334 BC.

Aristotle fled Athens in 323 BC, and the university continued to function after his lifetime under a series of leaders until the Roman general Sulla destroyed it during his assault on Athens in 86 BC.

Wikipedia, Lyceum (classical) (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-08-04. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. by 348 BCEabout 20 years earlier Plato answers Diogenes Also about how to live well
  2. c. 348/347 BCEabout 19.5 years earlier Plato dies, aged about eighty Also in Athens
  3. 335/334 BCEabout 7 years earlier Aristotle opens his school at the Lyceum The event behind itAlso in Athens
  4. 336–323 BCEDuring it Diogenes meets Alexander Same years
  5. 334–323 BCEDuring it Alexander writes to Aristotle Same years
  6. c. 335–322 BCEThis momentAristotle on one swallow and happiness
  7. c. 335–322 BCEDuring it Aristotle on being angry the right way More from Aristotle
  8. c. 335–322 BCEDuring it Aristotle on becoming just by just acts More from Aristotle
  9. c. 335–322 BCEDuring it Aristotle on friendship More from Aristotle
  10. 323 BCEabout 4.5 years later Alexander dies in Babylon Same years
  11. c. 324–321 BCEabout 5 years later Diogenes the Cynic dies in Corinth Same years
  12. by 323 BCEabout 5 years later Diogenes throws away his cup Also about how to live well
  13. by 323 BCEabout 5 years later Diogenes makes a tub his home Also in Athens

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

The quote: Moreover, to be happy takes a complete lifetime; for one swallow does not make spring, nor does one fine day; and similarly one day or a brief period of happiness does not make a man supremely blessed and happy.

Let this account then serve to describe the Good in outline—for no doubt the proper procedure is to begin by making a rough sketch, and to fill it in afterwards. If a work has been well laid down in outline, to carry it on and complete it in detail may be supposed to be within the capacity of anybody; and in this working out of details Time seems to be a good inventor or at all events coadjutor. This indeed is how advances in the arts have actually come about, since anyone can fill in the gaps.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1.7.16–17Translated by H. Rackham (1926)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
c. 335–322 BCE. His works are hard to date; they are usually placed in his Lyceum years in Athens, 335–322 BCE.
Whose words
His own words, in the Nicomachean Ethics. Who was Aristotle?
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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