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Who really said it

Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue

Written by Aristotle 384–322 BC · Greek philosopher, Plato’s pupil & Alexander the Great’s tutor
Verified Free to reuse

This is genuine Aristotle — the defining formula of his ‘Nicomachean Ethics’ (Book I). W. D. Ross’s standard 1925 translation renders it “human good turns out to be activity of soul in accordance with virtue” (1098a16) and “happiness is an activity of soul in accordance with perfect virtue” (1102a5). The popular one-liner smooths this to “the soul” and drops “perfect,” but the thought and wording are unmistakably Aristotle’s.

Last verified 10 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue” Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book I (1098a), trans. W. D. Ross, 1925

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Provenance

The source

Work
Nicomachean Ethics, Book I
Written
c. 340–322 BC (Greek: Ηθικὰ Νικομάχεια)
Passage
Bekker 1098a16 & 1102a5
Translation
W. D. Ross, Oxford, 1925

Human good turns out to be activity of soul in accordance with virtue, and if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete. … Since happiness is an activity of soul in accordance with perfect virtue, we must consider the nature of virtue.

W. D. Ross translation (1098a16 and 1102a5). Note Ross writes “of soul” without the article and “perfect virtue” at 1102a — the widely shared “of the soul … in accordance with virtue” is a light modern smoothing.

Nicomachean Ethics, Book I (Ross translation) on Wikisource

How we verified this

Public domain

Aristotle’s Greek has been public domain for over two millennia. The exact English wording here tracks W. D. Ross’s translation, first published in 1925 (The Works of Aristotle Translated into English, Vol. IX, Oxford: Clarendon Press) — also public domain in the United States as a work published before 1931. Modern in-copyright translations (e.g. Irwin, Crisp, Bartlett & Collins) phrase the line differently.

This reflects the original work, which is public domain. If your exact English wording comes from a specific modern translation, that translation may itself still be under copyright — check the edition you quote.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Wording note

The attribution to Aristotle is correct — the only wrinkle is the wording, which circulates in a lightly polished form.

A smoothed W. D. Ross translation paraphrase

Ross’s standard text reads “activity of soul in accordance with virtue” (no article) and, at 1102a, “in accordance with perfect virtue.” The meme form inserts “the” and drops “perfect,” per the Wikisource Ross text.

A translation choice for eudaimonia

Aristotle’s Greek word is eudaimonia, closer to “flourishing” or “living well” than momentary happiness — a nuance the one-line quote necessarily flattens, as discussed in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Genuinely Aristotle: the line is his definition of the human good in Nicomachean Ethics, Book I (1098a) — just tidied a touch in popular quotation.

Context

Why it mattered

In Book I of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle asks what the ultimate goal of human life is — the thing pursued for its own sake and not for the sake of anything else. His answer is eudaimonia, and his celebrated “function argument” concludes that if a human being’s characteristic activity is reasoned activity of the soul, then the human good is that activity performed well — that is, in accordance with virtue.

This reframed happiness from a feeling or stroke of luck into something you do: a lifelong practice of acting excellently. It is the foundation of virtue ethics and still anchors modern debates about well-being and flourishing.

Not a mood you fall into, but an activity you practise well — over a whole life.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Happiness Character

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Nicomachean Ethics, Book I (Ross)en.wikisource.org

Full public-domain W. D. Ross translation; the definition sits at 1098a and 1102a.
Nicomachean Ethics (Internet Classics Archive)classics.mit.edu

Searchable Ross translation of Book I with the happiness definition.
Wikiquote: Nicomachean Ethicsen.wikiquote.org

Sourced quotation entry crediting the wording to W. D. Ross, Book I, 1098a.
Aristotle's Ethicsplato.stanford.edu

Stanford Encyclopedia entry on eudaimonia, the function argument, and virtue.
Ethics (Ross), full PDFhistoryofeconomicthought.mcmaster.ca

Complete Batoche Books edition of the Ross translation for cross-checking passages.

The author

About Aristotle

Aristotle

384–322 BC · Greek philosopher · founder of the Lyceum

Aristotle of Stagira was a student of Plato and tutor to Alexander the Great. His Nicomachean Ethics argues that the highest human good is eudaimonia — flourishing achieved through the active, lifelong exercise of virtue rather than as a passive feeling.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, 1098a16 and 1102a5. Translated by W. D. Ross. In The Works of Aristotle Translated into English, Vol. IX. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925.

MLA (9th ed.)

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics, translated by W. D. Ross, vol. 9, Clarendon Press, 1925.

APA (7th ed.)

Aristotle. (1925). The works of Aristotle translated into English (Vol. 9) (W. D. Ross, Trans.). Clarendon Press. (Original work published c. 340–322 BCE)

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