Paradox of hedonism

I like having such a self-limiting paradox as a central part of a philosophy. It's like not being able to find Love if that's what you go looking for.

Paradox of hedonism - definition of Paradox of hedonism in Encyclopedia:
If, whether for good or bad reasons, one does equate happiness with pleasure, then the paradox of hedonism arises. When one aims solely towards pleasure itself, one's aim is frustrated. Sidwick comments on such frustration after a discussion of self-love in the above-mentioned work:

'I should not, however, infer from this that the pursuit of pleasure is necessarily self-defeating and futile; but merely that the principle of Egoistic Hedonism, when applied with a due knowledge of the laws of human nature, is practically self-limiting; i.e., that a rational method of attaining the end at which it aims requires that we should to some extent put it out of sight and not directly aim at it.'