Nathaniel Hawthorne claimed that happiness comes to us like a butterfly, alighting on our shoulder when we least expect it. That's a wonderfully romantic idea but probably wrong. A good life usually comes slowly, over time, and requires effort. Benjamin Franklin said “The Declaration only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”

Happiness requires the satisfaction of many needs. Remember Maslow's hierarchy and that, depending upon our place along the hierarchy, we desire and seek the things that we need. For the hungry it is nourishment, for the homeless it is security, and for the lonely it is friendship.

According to Aristotle, the things we seek are “goods.” Goods may differ among us – what is a good for one person may be of little interest to another if they are at different places along the hierarchy of needs. Poetry, science, and philosophy are of little importance to the hungry and the fearful. Goods are defined relative to needs and needs lower on the hierarchy must come first.

Aristotle was a teleologist; he believed that we are goal seeking and that all behaviors have an aim, an end, or a purpose.