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Aristotle on why amusement is not the goal

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

It would be strange if fun were the point of life, if we worked hard our whole lives just so we could be entertained.

Indeed it would be strange that amusement should be our End—that we should toil and moil all our life long in order that we may amuse ourselves.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 10.6.6Translated by H. Rackham (1926)Read the full passage (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 10.6.6, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle is asking what happiness really is. He has just argued that it is not found in amusements, and goes on to say that play is a kind of rest, which we need only so we can get back to work.

Checked claim by claim against: the passage around the quote.

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 Also 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 why amusement is not the goal
  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 one swallow and happiness 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

Virtue and intelligence, which are the sources of man’s higher activities, do not depend on the possession of power; and if these persons, having no taste for pure and liberal pleasure, have recourse to the pleasures of the body, we must not on that account suppose that bodily pleasures are the more desirable. Children imagine that the things they themselves value are actually the best; it is not surprising therefore that, as children and grown men have different standards of value, so also should the worthless and the virtuous. Therefore, as has repeatedly been said, those things are actually valuable and pleasant which appear so to the good man; but each man thinks that activity most desirable which suits his particular disposition, and there fore the good a man thinks virtuous activity most desirable. It follows therefore that happiness is not to be found in amusements. (ii)

The quote: Indeed it would be strange that amusement should be our End—that we should toil and moil all our life long in order that we may amuse ourselves.

For virtually every object we adopt is pursued as a means to something else, excepting happiness, which is an end in itself; to make amusement the object of our serious pursuits and our work seems foolish and childish to excess: Anacharsis’s motto, Play in order that you may work, is felt to be the right rule. For amusement is a form of rest; but we need rest because we are not able to go on working without a break, and therefore it is not an end, since we take it as a means to further activity.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 10.6.4–6Translated 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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