One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer

One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer: 'One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy.'

How can one live well in the world? What does it mean to be happy? In this selection from The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle probes the nature of happiness and virtue in a quest to divine an ethical value system. Exploring ideas of community, responsibility, courage, friendship, agency, reasoning, desire, and pleasure, these are some of the most profound and lasting ancient writings on the self to have influenced Western thought.

GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves—and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war, and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked, and comforted. They have enriched lives—and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals, and visionaries whose ideas shook civilisation and helped make us who we are.