# XIV explained — Nicomachean Ethics > Chapter companion for Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. ## What happens Aristotle continues his examination of pleasure and pain, addressing objections that bodily pleasures are not desirable. He distinguishes between necessary pleasures and those pursued to excess, explaining that the bad man pursues excess rather than mere necessity. He discusses why bodily pleasures seem more desirable—often as remedies for pain—and contrasts remedial pleasures with those that are naturally pleasant, arising from the activity of a healthy system. He concludes that our composite nature prevents uninterrupted pleasure, whereas a simple nature like God's enjoys constant pleasure. ## Themes in this chapter ### Pleasure and Pain Central theme of the chapter; Aristotle distinguishes between necessary and excessive pleasures, remedial and natural pleasures, and explains why bodily pleasures are often mistakenly pursued. ### Virtue and Character The bad man is defined by his pursuit of excessive pleasure; character is linked to how one handles pleasure and pain. ## Character check-ins ### Aristotle Author of the Nicomachean Ethics; presents the analysis of pleasure, pain, and continence. ## Key lines > if there were a being whose nature were simple, the same activity would be always most pleasant to him. And on this account God always enjoys one simple pleasure; for besides the activity of movement, there is also activity without movement, and rest admits of truer pleasure than motion. A being with a simple nature would find constant pleasure in the same activity; thus God experiences a single, unchanging pleasure, since rest is more truly pleasant than motion. _Aristotle contrasts the composite human nature with the divine simplicity to explain why human pleasure is intermittent._ > But change is 'the sweetest of all things,' as the poet says, because of a certain badness in us: for just as it is the bad man who is especially apt to change, so is it the bad nature that needs change; for it is neither simple nor good. The poet's saying that change is sweet reflects our flawed nature; a bad person is prone to change, and a bad nature requires change because it lacks simplicity and goodness. _Aristotle uses a poetic reference to support his argument that the desire for change stems from imperfection._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/nicomachean_ethics_se/chapters/xiv - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/nicomachean_ethics_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/nicomachean_ethics_se/chapters