The ancient philosophers had a much different view on what happiness entails than what we do today. Happiness is not merely the ability to have a happy moment or feel good for an instance, it involves the entirety of you life. It takes in all aspects of your lifestyle, the goodness of how your life is lived. This may be accomplished by taking a step back from the normal routine of everyday and thinking about your life as a whole. The ancients also believe for a person to have a happy life they must first meet the demands of happiness. First, they must go for things for the sake of it, not for anything additional. Second, they must be self-sufficient, no part is left out that has value as a part of well-being. Only after these demands are met may a person have the ability to achieve a happy life. .
Pleasure on the other hand is more immediate in its usage. It involves the here and now, and involves a more temporary outcome. For this reason, pleasure is often seen as an obstacle to happiness. Happiness takes in the present and future and helps determine how they will full a happy life; whereas pleasure only focuses on the present and forgets to be concerned with the entirety of human life. .
The idea of pleasure as a short-term fix is reputed by Epicurus; he insists there are two types of pleasure, one involves the trivial pleasures of life, eating, drinking, gambling, sex, and is called "movement", the other is called "static" and involves seeking the absence of bodily pain and mental trouble. (47) BY achieving this type of pleasure, Epicurus insists, is helping one achieve happiness. .
Virtue at its least is the concern of doing things that are morally correct. This involves us knowing what is and what is not morally correct, this in itself can be a challenging task. This takes the mastery of self control over what humans would often like to do. To do what is morally correct is one thing, to do that of a virtuous person takes considerably more.