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How did the Cyrenaic school connect pleasure with the good life?

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Painting by Joseph Aubert of Saint Thomas Aquinas seated with a book, wearing a halo and black and white robes, surrounded by ornate patterns in St. Stephens Church, Jerusalem. — Western philosophy Painting of scholastic philosopher St. Thomas of Aquinas by Joseph Aubert, 1900.

The Cyrenaic school, founded by Aristippus, defined the good life through the pursuit of pleasure as the highest human value and the ultimate criterion of goodness.12

Central to their philosophy was the belief that the only objective of action should be to ensure one's own immediate affections are pleasant. Because they held that knowledge is limited to momentary sensations, they argued that it is futile to calculate future outcomes; instead, the "true art of life" is to maximize enjoyment in the present moment.13

While they prioritized pleasure, the Cyrenaics were not mere "wastrels." They emphasized the use of reason to manipulate situations for hedonistic utility and advocated for self-control to remain "stronger than pleasure," embodying the Socratic ideal of "I possess, I am not possessed". They categorized human conditions into violent change (pain), gentle change (pleasure), and stability (neither), urging individuals to actively avoid pain and pursue gentle, pleasure-producing changes. Although bodily pleasures were considered more intense, they also recognized mental pleasures, including altruistic joys like the prosperity of one's country.12