Happiness by Frederic Lenoir
Fabulous book
This is a mesmerizing book that just happens to end when I am in an unhappy mood, but that is temporary.
And indeed, I wrote that first sentence two days ago and now I am already happy again.
What is extraordinary at this book is the fact that it covers a wide range of thinkers and deals with happiness from the perspective of the ancients and the modern scholars, the philosophers as well as scientists.
Those quoted and analyzed cover a wide range:
- Epicurus, Aristotle, Freud, Schopenhauer, Spinoza, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Montaigne and others
Here are some quotes on happiness, from the excellent book by Frederic Lenoir- Happiness
So we must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed towards attaining “—Epicurus
“For this reason also the question is asked, whether happiness is to be acquired by learning or by habituation or some other sort of training, or comes in virtue of some divine providence or again by chance.”- Aristotle
“In this, [the individual’s] psychical constitution will play a decisive part, irrespectively of the external circumstances. The man who is predominantly erotic will give first preference to his emotional relationships with other people; the narcissistic man, who inclines to be more self-sufficient, will seek his main satisfactions in his internal mental processes; the man of action will never give up on the external world on which he can try out his strength.” – Freud
“In Greek, the word for happiness, eudaimonia, can be taken to mean “having a good daimon.”
“In the study of philosophy, pleasure accompanies growing knowledge; for pleasure does not follow learning; rather, learning and pleasure advance side by side.”- Epicurus
“To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.”- Flaubert
“There’s no human condition, however humble or wretched it may be, that doesn’t have a chance for happiness offered to it every day: to achieve it, all that you need is yourself. —Jean Giono
“Do I find myself in any calm composedness? Is there any pleasure that tickles me? I do not suffer it to dally with my senses only; I associate my soul to it too: not there to engage itself, but therein to take delight; not there to lose itself, but to be present there; and I employ it, on its part, to view itself in this prosperous state, to weigh and appreciate its happiness and to amplify it.” - Montaigne
“Thus, experience shows that becoming aware of our state of satisfaction contributes to increasing our happiness.”
The stoics say that we need to eliminate desires, for they make us unhappy and this is where stoics resemble Buddhists.
Indeed, craving for things is the source of unhappiness and the Dalai Lama said upon entering a hyper market, something like
- How extraordinary, so many things I do not need
There is a contrast here, between imagining the best possible scenario for the future and the attitude promoted by stoics
- Be happy with whatever comes
- Adapt to the world and enjoy as it is, as opposed to moan and regret various occurrences
It is not what happens, but how we perceive what happens that causes pain and the only one that can take you down is you,
These statements appear to make sense, for various individuals take either joy or on the contrary discomfort from the same incident.
A terrible example comes to mind, that of the terrorist attacks in Paris.
- A good number of lunatics and so called fighters for the shambles they call Islamic state are exhilarated by the death of so many people
- As opposed to normal people who mourn, sympathize with the victims and feel revulsion towards the barbarians and their acts
Now this is again a challenge for the Buddhists and part of my reserve towards that very attractive faith, in its other precepts
- The Buddhists preach the elimination of hatred
- I think it goes something like this, in one of their texts-
- I cannot eliminate, kill all the wicked people. Their number is humongous. But I can destroy hatred.
Well, what about those god damn mass killers, ready to use any weapon they get their hands on- so far, they only have ”clean” explosives.
But if they get their hands on dirty bombs all hell will break loose.
And now for more quotes from Happiness-
“Experience, supported by several scientific studies, shows that we also bear a certain responsibility for being (or not being) happy. Happiness is out of our control and yet depends on us. We are conditioned but not determined by various factors to be more or less happy. So, by using our reason and will, for example, we have the ability to increase our capacity for happiness (though the success of our quest is not thereby guaranteed).”