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The Conquest of Happiness

Bertrand Russell

4.02 · Rating details · 9,079 ratings · 701 reviews

The Conquest of Happiness is Bertrand Russell's recipe for good living. First published in 1930, it pre-dates the current obsession with self-help by decades. Leading the reader step by step through the causes of unhappiness and the personal choices, compromises and sacrifices that (may) lead to the final, affirmative conclusion of 'The Happy Man', this is popular ...more

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Paperback, 183 pages

Published February 3rd 2006 by Routledge (first published 1930)

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Sep 08, 2014 Roy Lotz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: prose-style, person-of-letters, help-me-help-myself, anglophilia

In adolescence, I hated life and was continually on the verge of suicide, from which, however, I was restrained by the desire to know more mathematics. Now, on the contrary, I enjoy life; I might almost say that with every year that passes I enjoy it more.

Like many people, I suspect, I find Russell an extremely agreeable person. And though he is, no doubt, several orders of magnitude cleverer than I am, I still identify very strongly with him. Perhaps this is only wishful thinking, but the
In adolescence, I hated life and was continually on the verge of suicide, from which, however, I was restrained by the desire to know more mathematics. Now, on the contrary, I enjoy life; I might almost say that with every year that passes I enjoy it more.

Like many people, I suspect, I find Russell an extremely agreeable person. And though he is, no doubt, several orders of magnitude cleverer than I am, I still identify very strongly with him. Perhaps this is only wishful thinking, but the more I read Russell, the more I find that, in outlook and temperament, I am rather similar to the man—apart from his aristocratic English manners, of course. Thus it was a pleasure to read his views on what makes for a happy life, as almost everything he said resonated very strongly with me.

Russell’s aim is to examine not extraordinary grief or mourning or tragedy, but the usual sort of unhappiness that Thoreau meant when he said “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” And Russell’s message boils down to something simple: happiness comes from taking a genuine interest in the world, and unhappiness consists in spending too much time thinking about oneself and one’s problems.

Here is a simple example. If, on my walk back from work, I run into my neighbor, who then proceeds to tell me—for the umpteenth time—about his recent hunting trip, I can choose to see it as an imposition on myself, a needless waste of my time, a sign of this man’s stupidity, and finally as a part of a general decline in good manners and good taste. Or I can, with any luck, choose to see it as an amusing foible, as a window into another person’s life, or at the very least as something absolutely trivial and not worth fussing about. The difference is that the first is self-centered and more than a bit unrealistic, while in the second scenario my attention is directed outwards and I maintain a sense of perspective.

Russell fills up a book by exploring this idea from a variety of angles. What are the emotions that focus our attention inward and cause us to lose our perspective and our zest for life? Envy, greed, guilt, ruthless competitiveness, the need for approval, fear of public opinion. To combat these pulls, Russell recommends ways to constantly remind ourselves that we aren’t, in fact, the center of the universe, and the world around us is not some backdrop for our problems or an obstacle in the way, but is rather extremely interesting and a good deal more important than our own lives.

One of Russell's key strategies is to take an interest in things that have no practical benefit to us. Simple as this sounds, many don’t seem to understand this lesson. It always strikes me as bizarre and shortsighted when someone says, “Why should I learn about this? It doesn’t affect me in any way. Will this ever be useful?” But isn’t this the point? Learning about wildflowers, for example, is relaxing because you won’t have to rely on this knowledge to pass an exam or to get a paycheck; it’s a relief from your usual cares, and one that, besides, enriches your experience of the world. And not only does learning about wildflowers enrich your experience, but it also reminds you that there’s an entire region of reality—one that people have devoted their lives to—that will be completely unaffected if you go bankrupt tomorrow. Isn’t that a nice thought?

In some places, this book shows its age. Russell speaks of women in ways that would probably get him tarred and feathered now; though, to be fair, at the time he was considered extremely progressive. At another point, Russell partly blames the growing unhappiness of women on the decline in good domestic service. Yet these bits are easy to ignore and forgive; and much of the book still feels relevant. Russell is particularly good on envy, competitiveness, and workaholism. These three—very prevalent here in New York City—are deeply intertwined.

So many people—and I am not excluded from this—make themselves miserable by thinking about all the nice things happening to everyone else, all the money their cousin is making (who’s not, after all, any smarter than me!), and all the luck that some people seem to have. They look in the mirror and think about the handsomer fellow on television; they receive their paycheck and think about how much their boss must make. This has been exacerbated by social media, but is, I think, something we all must deal with, especially in a capitalistic society where, ostensibly at least, your social position is determined by your own merit. The dark side of living in a supposed meritocracy is that people at the bottom or even comfortably in the middle feel that they are failures for not reaching the top—which is obviously absurd, especially if you realize that the people at the top most likely aren’t any happier than you are.

Thinking about yourself purely in relation to others leads directly to a certain amount of competitiveness; many people struggle, not to attain something they need, but simply to win a race against their peers. This is the cause of obsessive working. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with working, and working hard, but some people have completely lost a sense of perspective. In fact, I recently read a piece by someone who had spent his life in advertising—Lind Redding was his name—who detailed this very phenomenon after he was diagnosed with cancer and started looking back on his working life. After working furiously for decades, he concluded that, after all, he was only trying to make advertisements, so why on earth had he spent so many stressful hours at the office rather than at home?

This has happened to me, though on a much smaller scale, when I have been convinced that what I was working on was terribly important and that the consequences for not doing it perfectly would be disastrous—when, in reality, what I was doing was of no importance and the consequences of doing it imperfectly would be nonexistent. A proper sense of perspective would have helped me avoid this, for I would realize that other people’s success doesn’t make me a failure, that I have more than I need already, that my task is a very minor event in the universe, and that the earth won’t detonate if every detail isn’t just right. Or at least, I hope it won’t.

I’m getting a bit carried away. To return to the book, Russell, with his usually acute mind, tackles this trouble, among others, offering friendly advice on how to avoid it and to maintain a mental balance. And lucky for the reader, Russell’s advice is usually summed up in wonderful epigrams that sparkle with good-natured wit. I constantly found myself highlighting sentences in this book, as I read in continuous astonishment at Russell’s skill with the pen. His style is neither flashy nor even conspicuous; he uses no tricks, no elaborate metaphors, no high-flown words. Yet every time I read Russell, I find myself filled with envy at his writing ability; I think it's criminal that there should be someone so much better than I am. Russell would, of course, remind me that after all there will always be someone who’s a better writer than I am, and that his prose should be appreciated as a gift rather than considered as a reproach to my own. Now, how do you argue with a person like that?
...more

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Mar 28, 2008 Tara rated it did not like it

Shelves: philosophy

I was so excited to read this book, because I love Bertrand Russell. I still love Bertrand Russell. It's just too bad that his view of humanity is so narrow-minded in this work. His descriptions of people, of society make you go "whaaaaat?", and while it could be chalked up to the fact that it was written nearly eighty years ago, I think there's more to it. Russell displayed enormous depth and understanding when he wrote "A History of Western Philosophy" a decade later, and I think time really ...more

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Feb 26, 2017 Yasmeen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, psychology

I had my doubts: how can a privileged white, male philosopher tell me, a modern-day female minority about the conquest of happiness via a book that was written before my dad was born? How could we possibly have anything in common? Color me surprised. It's striking how relevant his writing is, to our society today.

I started reading this book after a stressful year in my life where I got too caught up with feelings of anxiety and lack of achievement despite working hard most days. I will not go I had my doubts: how can a privileged white, male philosopher tell me, a modern-day female minority about the conquest of happiness via a book that was written before my dad was born? How could we possibly have anything in common? Color me surprised. It's striking how relevant his writing is, to our society today.

I started reading this book after a stressful year in my life where I got too caught up with feelings of anxiety and lack of achievement despite working hard most days. I will not go through the gory details because I doubt they will be relatable or useful to anyone, but nothing that I did or read during that year helped till this book arrived. I needed a "why", and this book gave me an answer to that, and to "how".

Keep in mind that this book is not going to be helpful to anyone who suffers from real tragedy or grief, it's simply meant to be used as a framework to understanding why you are unhappy despite having a semi-comfortable life. Which I think applies to most people who are capable of reading for leisure. Russell starts out with declaring that most of your unhappiness stems from a preoccupation with yourself and a lack of genuine interest with the external objects. The book is divided into two main parts: Causes of unhappiness, and causes of happiness. I found the first part to be most insightful because I suffered from every, single, cause, that he mentioned, to some degree.

CAUSES OF UNHAPPINESS
1. Byronic Unhappiness: I frequently attributed some of my sorrows to how devastatingly bad and evil the world can be.
2. Competition: Competitive success is too dearly purchased if you sacrifice all other ingredients to happiness in order to obtain it. It's also damaging in the sense that success should not be represented as the purpose of life, since after obtaining it, you're bound to fall prey to boredom and listlessness because you do not know what to do with it... so you occupy yourself with making more success. It's a harmful cycle.
3. Boredom and Excitement: It's true that we are less bored than our ancestors were, but we are more terrified of being bored. A life full of excitement is not to be desired since it is exhausting and a certain amount of boredom and inactivity is required in order for you to be able to achieve the important things in your life. No great achievement is possible without persistent work. "A certain power of enduring boredom is essential to a happy life".
4. Fatigue: Probably my favorite chapter in the book. I highlighted all of it.
5. Envy.
6. The Sense of Sin: Speaks about what it really means to have your conscience prick you.
7. Persecution Mania: It's very easy to fall prey to this mania in a world where you see people getting ahead not based on merit alone, and when you are too preoccupied with yourself.
8. Fear of Public Opinion: "One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny." I found this chapter incredibly insightful.

I cannot believe how underrated this book is. I mean, it is true, that it's speckled with classist remarks and an abundance of gender stereotypes/roles; but it was the 1930's... it's quite remarkable - and depressing - how close it is Saudi Arabia's 2017. But, please, do not dismiss this book because of it.

Recommended.

...more

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Oct 19, 2009 Smiley rated it really liked it

Shelves: philosophy

I first read its second-hand hardcover (1930) bought at the National Book Fair XXXVI in Bangkok in 2008 and found Russell's views on happiness practical and witty. Russell famously wrote so clearly and contributively to the world that he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1950 (another similar case is, I think, Sir Winston Churchill), therefore, his writing style is still worth studying and applying in one's narration.

Let me show you some interesting quotes from this book published by ...more

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Dec 17, 2010 Tristan rated it really liked it

One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.

Bertrand Russel, cheery scientist and one of the greatest minds and personalities of the era, explains his take on human happiness and what keeps most of us from it most of the time. He explains this from a purely rational and non-theistic perspective, taking nothing for granted. This is NOT a self-help book, ...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Jesse rated it it was amazing

Russell was very right to title this quintessential self-help book with the word "conquest", since happiness is hardly a thing that emanates from the heavens down to your precious soul - unfortunately, the opposite view has held sway for a couple thousand years. Consequently, many average people do as they're told, expecting happiness to come to them if they are obedient, i.e., enjoy mainstream media, conform one's behavior to outside groups, etc. Yet, everything of human worth is precisely Russell was very right to title this quintessential self-help book with the word "conquest", since happiness is hardly a thing that emanates from the heavens down to your precious soul - unfortunately, the opposite view has held sway for a couple thousand years. Consequently, many average people do as they're told, expecting happiness to come to them if they are obedient, i.e., enjoy mainstream media, conform one's behavior to outside groups, etc. Yet, everything of human worth is precisely outside of mainstream media and conventional behavior; hence, there must be some conquest (certainly Russell and Nietzsche's views on power coincide somewhere in the noumenal realm). One must struggle for culture in a society infected with Christian values; this was exactly the predicament of Europe coming out of the Middle Ages - people struggled to acquire culture (Greek, Golden Age Latin) and this was what lifted humanity out of medieval depression. In the same way, modernity must struggle again, out of pop (ideological-hegemonic) culture, out of industrial malaise. Partly, this is a political, but also a psychological struggle. The Buddha once noted that the thoughts of today are the seedbed for the thoughts of tomorrow; similarly, Russell notes the importance of training one's unconscious thoughts, to carefully reason out one's worries, and not to suppress them. Suppressing them is bound to give one a sense of unease, an unease that quickly leads to boredom, and boredom is, Russell says, easily responsible for most of the atrocities in history (as Dostoyevsky's Underground Man notes, Cleopatra pierced her slave with her brooch simply for the fun of it). While the political and psychological struggles are perhaps one and the same, and while the boredom that produces unhappiness will persist as long as there is meaningless economic activity (service-industries), Russell gives the reader an important sense of responsibility for one's own degree of happiness in a world that provides, if one is truthful, no end for interest in it. ...more

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May 04, 2017 Safa Fatima rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned

A transcendent experience, I could relate so much, it was like looking into the mirror, it called to me. A genuine book, calling it a self-help book wouldn't do it justice.

I don't know what happiness is, but Russell sure has taught me how to get there. His methods and views were so understandable, his logic irrefutable. Being a man of Science, his observations remain so accurate, I was blown away. I loved his observations about people in Science, they seemed so close to the truth. A ...more

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Dec 05, 2013 Kecia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, nobel_laureates, nerdy-girls

I had to keep in mind that this book was written in 1930 by man who lived within the confines of the privileged class of white privilege. If I hadn't kept that in mind the racism and sexism would have made this book intolerable. I had to grit my teeth and move along at times.

I'm not sure Russell could write this book today, even without the racism/sexism. It would probaly be better suited in 2013 to a blog than a book. He goes through all the of the reasons he sees for unhappiness and then ...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Si rated it really liked it

Written in Russells usual say-it-like-it-is style, The Conquest of Happiness gets straight to the point with an incisive view of how to be happy, that is as apt today as when it was written nearly 50 years ago.
The book is split into two halves: the first describing the main causes of unhappiness, and the second, well I think you can guess that its the causes of happiness.
To summarise: live in the present; enjoy the small things; dont compete with others; avoid boredom, yet aim for moderation in ...more

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Oct 23, 2010 Pvw rated it liked it

Shelves: philosophy, social-criticism

It is always refreshing to hear exact scientists give their opinions about life or sociological matters. I find them a lot more refreshing than the usual quick guide to happiness by some psychologist, or the energy-inside-yourself babble by a spiritual charlatan.

Already from the introduction you understand that Russell is not writing this to make some easy money: he clearly wants to just pass on ideas that have worked for him, and that may be useful for others as well.

The book consists of two ...more

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Jan 12, 2010 Qurban rated it it was amazing

its a wonderful read . with great insight and indepth studyof human behaviour the author identifies what makes a man happy or unhappy. And the solutions he offer are practicable and easy to adopt if one so one wants. its a must read for all book lovers and for those who are interested in the study of human charcter.

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Apr 06, 2009 Jo-Ann Zhou rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One of the greatest chicken soup for the soul books I read so far, though frankly I haven't read a lot. The book was first published in 1930, which still applies to present life. It's an art to be happy, life long class. Below is what I quote from the book:

What I disagreed:

"A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy can live."

What I agreed:

"Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile."

1) "Remember that your ...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Kate added it

Shelves: nonfiction

I read it because I'm into happiness books these days, but this one felt curiously dated (it came out in 1930). Its traditional philosophical approach and voice just isn't my thing.

However, if you can borrow it from the library or a friend--or if you can read a portion of it in a bookstore--it's worth reading Chapter 11: Zest.

His argument is that "the most universal and distinctive mark" of happiness is zest, which he essentially defines as a love of and curiosity about life. I like the way he ...more

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Oct 03, 2016 Debbie Madrid rated it it was amazing

I think this book has very wise insights of life and the way we should be living.
I read it in parts to be able to absorb the information inside which is a lot.
I agree with most of his points of view.

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Oct 19, 2012 Farhan Khalid rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, nobel, english, self-help

Unhappiness, why?

Day-to-day unhappiness from which most people in civilized countries suffer, and which is all the more unbearable because having no external cause, it appears inescapable

I believe this unhappiness to be very largely due to mistaken views of the world, mistaken ethics, mistaken habits of life

Extrospection

Gradually I learned to be indifferent to myself and my experience

I came to centre my attention increasingly upon external objects

Sins

Sins are committed by everyone or no one

The ...more

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Jul 05, 2009 P.J. Sullivan rated it really liked it

Shelves: philosophy, psychology, social-psychology, emotions, religion

Bertrand Russell was the quintessential rational man. In this book he applies rationality to psychology in a systematic examination of human thinking and motivations. Without denying the importance of external social forces, he concerns himself here with only those factors which lie within the power of the individual mind to change.

Discussing the psychological causes of unhappiness, he concludes that preoccupation with self is the chief culprit. The personality should be directed outward. The ...more

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Dec 15, 2015 Zhiyar Qadri rated it it was amazing

insightful and lovely reflections of a genius on happiness #Mustread
finding our Anchors that genuinely give us gratefulness and zest for life is what matters.
Top 2 lessons to remember:
1- graceful accepting of an objective life however counterintuitive it maybe.
2- I will only put my favorite colors on my canvas ..

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Aug 02, 2010 Matt Riddle rated it it was amazing

This book is a bit dated in parts but still packed with goodness.

Some people consider self-love or self-esteem the counter to or cure for self-loathing. Russell makes a very compelling argument that self-esteem and self-loathing are merely flip sides of the same coin of self-absorption. Russell argues that the best and most healthy practice is to think about yourself as little as possible and instead become absorbed by causes and activities outside of yourself.

"Through such interests a man ...more

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Oct 26, 2014 Carmen Movilă rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite, psychology, classics, philosophy, british-literature, essay, ethics

Let's just say it's... enlightning ^^
One of the best lectures so far. :)

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Mar 25, 2016 Bogdan Raț rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Thank you, Sir Russell, for your wisdom.

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Jul 18, 2016 Tim rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016, nonfiction, philosophy

Much more the passionate carpe diem approach of Horace than the placid sit down quietly and wait for happiness to alight on you approach of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Even the title is proactive, suggestive of territory being taken in a war with an opposing force.

Russell begins with the notion that happiness begins in something exterior to a person. I would have to agree with him on purely etymological grounds. Happiness is related to the English words 'happenstance' and 'hapless' (both words that Much more the passionate carpe diem approach of Horace than the placid sit down quietly and wait for happiness to alight on you approach of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Even the title is proactive, suggestive of territory being taken in a war with an opposing force.

Russell begins with the notion that happiness begins in something exterior to a person. I would have to agree with him on purely etymological grounds. Happiness is related to the English words 'happenstance' and 'hapless' (both words that indicate things over which you have no control), all of which are derived from the norwegian word 'hap' which means luck or chance. So happiness in its proper sense is very much circumstantial, being grounded in the external environment. You might say happiness is transitory rather than transcendent (rooted in your environment rather than in something beyond it). His aim in writing was to consider ways in which we can maximize our happiness in the place in which we find ourselves by altering our thinking and thus our actions and reactions to the world about us. It is worth noting that he is not considering either ideal or extenuating circumstances but the everyday existence of the average citizen:

'In discussing this problem, I shall confine my attention to those who are not subject to any extreme cause of outward misery. I shall assume a sufficient income to secure food and shelter, sufficient health to make ordinary bodily activities possible. I shall not consider the great catastrophes, such as the loss of all one's children, or public disgrace. There are things to be said about such matters, and they are important things, but they belong to a different order from the things I wish to say. My purpose is to suggest a cure for the ordinary day-to-day unhappiness from which most people in civilized countries suffer, and which is all the more unbearable because, having no obvious external cause, it appears largely inescapable.'

The book is divided into two halves consisting of a catalogue of things that cause unhappiness and things that cause happiness. Things that cause unhappiness: self-absorption, pessimism, the competitive nature of modern life, boredom, mental, emotional, and physical tiredness, comparing yourself and your lot in life to others, inner conflict, perpetual victim-hood, and peer pressure. Things that cause happiness: curiousity, awe, enthusiasm and appreciation for life, reciprocal affection, parenthood, work, hobbies, and balance. I would mention in passing that at least some of these things are interchangeable. While it is true that things like parenthood and work can be sources of happiness, there are also times when they can be a source of profound unhappiness.

There are a few niggling comments I could make. I found his description of Christians to be overly cartoonish. It may be true that some spend all their time obsessively and exhaustively doing a moral inventory of their inner being but it would seem to me a healthy spirituality would consist in a balance of looking outward and looking inward. He also seemed to have it in for introverts in places. The difference between being an introvert or an extrovert is essentially the same as being tall or short, neither condition being superior or inferior to the other but each certainly different from the other.

Overall I found this to be a good book. I was actually quite surprised how much of what was written struck a sympathetic nerve. I completely agree with his assessment that it is wrong to consider the pursuit of knowledge only worthwhile if it has some functional purpose behind it (namely making vast quantities of money.) This problem has become even more pronounced since this book was written, perhaps due to increased corporate funding of post secondary educational systems. If you have the time, here is a simple exercise: google the phrase 'Are the humanities.....?' and see what the suggested auto completes are. He was also quite prescient in his analysis of the ability of the media to stigmatize people who have 'the wrong views.'

This book might be considered an early example of the self-help genre. A lot of it could be construed as common sense, albeit extremely well articulated common sense. Early in the book Russell takes to task the book of Ecclesiastes (I would contend he entirely misses the point of the book of Ecclesiastes while staring it full in the face) but in light of his views one might consider this a rosier vision of a man 'under the sun.' ...more

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May 21, 2019 Leonardo Rydin Gorjão rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The rationalist par excellence Bertrand Russell elaborates on the Conquest of Happiness in a transitioning society, staged on the so-felt struggle between religious morality of the Western world and the growing personal freedom we nowadays often take for granted. The individual faces, of one's own volition, a personal quest for happiness, unshackled from the demerits of Christianity and the ambiguity of societal ill-defined morality. How is one to ensure a happy life?

A pleasant read especially ...more

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May 20, 2014 Michael P. rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Eminent and prolifically published British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote a self-help book? Yep, and like most self-help books, it has its problems. Russell sensibly approaches the issue of finding happiness as a good philosopher ought, thoroughly and evenhandedly. The books is structured in two parts, first the obstacles to happiness and how to overcome them followed by positive things that people can do to achieve happiness.

The logic is essentially compelling and the advice good, though Eminent and prolifically published British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote a self-help book? Yep, and like most self-help books, it has its problems. Russell sensibly approaches the issue of finding happiness as a good philosopher ought, thoroughly and evenhandedly. The books is structured in two parts, first the obstacles to happiness and how to overcome them followed by positive things that people can do to achieve happiness.

The logic is essentially compelling and the advice good, though Russell missed telling readers that every change in their lives will necessitate finding a new balance between the things that make life fulfilling. The book is badly dated. His comments about why tycoons have trouble finding happiness must have been written before the Wall Street crash of 1929, so the book would have seemed odd to his readers in 1930, when it was published. This is an extreme example of how many, even most of Russell's examples seem wrong today. I'm sure these examples had resonance in 1930, but the world has changed so much that most the examples that support (give proof to) his greater points are many of his examples no longer true. This ought to make us skeptical about his greater points, though they resonate with my own struggle for happiness. Russell is essentially right, but so much of the details are now wrong that some readers will not be able to see the proverbial forest past the proverbial trees.

There is much sound advice if you can see past this, but ultimately, the book failed to convince me. I have come to a different place on the happiness puzzle. I think that by his standard, Lord Russell would consider me to be happy. I do not consider myself to be. Most days are neither good days nor bad. They are just days, steady, progressing towards goals, fulfilling to a degree, but not especially happy or sad. Some minority of days are very good and some minority are very bad. I no longer consider something as elusive as happiness to be a goal, substituting having a fulfilling day instead because you can't make happiness happen.

It would be interesting to have a conversation with Russell to learn if I guess correctly, that this is what he means by happiness, but that is not possible. That word is in the way. My final criticism is that the concept of "happiness" is simply flawed, but that is as much a part of my subjective experience based on the world as I find it as were Russell's dated examples based on the worlds as he found it, so who knows? ...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Snehal Bhagat rated it liked it · review of another edition

A mathematician-turned-philosopher reflects on what constitutes true happiness, and how to attain it.

Russell is highly regarded in mathematical circles, but I have little idea of what his contribution to philosophy is, or in what light modern psychology views his recipes for achieving a happy life. And recipes they are, arising out of his personal observations. Which probably explains the unappetizing elements of the book- a friend of mine says that if you only ever get to see circles when you ...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Caroline Friedman Levy rated it really liked it

A soothing, Emersonian book filled with Russell's wisdom on "the happy man", pushing one towards impulsivity, friendliness, big-heartedness. To the young writer, "Give up trying to write, and, instead, try not to write. Go out into the world; become a pirate, a king in Borneo, a laborer in Soviet Russia." Quite a bit about the family and what a significant source of happiness Russell's own children were to him, slightly irritating to read while on family vacation and, given the nature of men who ...more

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Jan 01, 2016 Manik Sukoco rated it really liked it

For a man of such a deep mind, Russell presents his ideas in The Conquest of Happiness in a fashion which is quite accessible, yet uncompromisingly insightful. Sprinkled with smart, subtle humor and relevant anecdotes to boot, the reader is given a refreshing take on Russell's thoughts on and experiences with happiness which are "not addressed to highbrows, or to those who regard a practical problem merely as something to be talked about." A must read for anyone looking for a soft introduction ...more

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Dec 01, 2013 Hasan rated it it was amazing

Such a lovely find this book was. I found this on my fathers bookshelf. The date said bought Nov.24, 99. It means I was of age 12 when this book was bought. 14 years later now that I am 26, I can truly relate to this book after seeing only a half of life.

At first reading I had no interest in the author, but it was actually after reading a couple of chapters that I wanted to dig into the life of a person who can write such pro-found things about life and lives of people. And after reading few ...more

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Jun 11, 2013 Momina Masood rated it it was ok

Shelves: philosophy

Finally! This could have been an exceptionally intelligent book if Russell had a little tolerance towards religion. Some of the things he says in this books are perfectly correct, rational, and infallible, but there are other things, as well; that of a lame, idiotic, and unconvincing tendency. The book gets tedious at times, and his harping over 'the man of science' again and again really tested my patience. And another thing was his dreary outlook for the poor, unfortunate 'domesticated wife'! ...more

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Apr 17, 2017 Mila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: brits, nonfiction

"A man who has once perceived, however temporally and however briefly, what makes greatness of soul, can no longer be happy if he allows himself to be petty, self-seeking, troubled by trivial misfortunes, dreading what fate may have in store for him. The man capable of greatness of soul will open wide the windows of his mind, letting the winds blow freely upon it from every portion of the universe."

Russell's version of the good life, somewhere between ancient ethics and westernised eastern ...more

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Aug 15, 2013 Matija rated it it was amazing

Russell teaches us the wisdom of a happy life as someone who understands it himself, and thus doesn't need to use fancy language to send across his simple, yet hardly ever obvious message. He examines first the causes of unhappiness, and then those of happiness in a strikingly straightforward way. He unmasks modes in which we impose barriers on our own road to inner peace, and points to valuable sources of strength we can use to replenish ourselves along the way. I loved this book.

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About Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell

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Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, was a Welsh philosopher, historian, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, pacifist, and prominent rationalist. Although he was usually regarded as English, as he spent the majority of his life in England, he was born in Wales, where he also died.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 "in recognition of his ...more