 Objects which are desired initially merely as a means to happiness, can become so central to a person’s conception of what it means to be happy as to be seen as a part of their happiness. At this point, they may be desired in themselves—and quite apart from their results. We shall discuss this claim further below  (section 4.2).  But as part of Mill’s general strategy for showing that nothing beyond happiness is desirable, the import of the claim is clear. It allows Mill to argue that nothing apart from happiness is ultimately desired. “Whatever is desired otherwise than as a means […] to happiness, is desired as itself a part of happiness”, and as such “there is in reality nothing desired except happiness” (Utilitarianism, X: 237).