第13章幸福之道(1)
&oHappiness
佚名Anonymous
Itisaongmoraliststhatyouotgethappinessbypursuingit。Thisisonlytrueifyoupursueitunwisely。GamblersatMonteCarlmoney,andmostofthemloseitihereareotherursuingmoney,whisucceed。Soisitiness。Ifyoupursueitbymeansofdrink,ythehangover。Epicuruspursueditbylivingonlyinialsodeatingonlydrybread,supplementedbyalittlefeastdays。Hismethodprovedsuchiscase,buthewasavaletudinarian,andmostpeoplewouldhingmorous。Formostpeople,thepursuitofhappiness,unlesssupplementedinvariousways,istooabstradtheoreticaltobeadequateasapersonalruleoflife。ButIthinkthatersonalruleoflifeyoumaychooseitshouldinrareandheroiccases,beinpatibleiness。
Thereareagreatmanypeoplewhohaveallthematerialsofhappihandasuffie,aheless,areprofoundlyunhappy。Insuchcasesitwouldseemasifthefaultmustliewithawroohowtolive。Inonesense,wemaysaythataohowtoliveiswrong。Weimagineourselvesmoredifferentfromtheanimalsthanweare。Animalsliveonimpulse,andarehappyasloernalsarefavorable。Ifyouhaveacatitwillehasfoodandortunitiesforanoalnightoiles。Yourneedsaremoreplexthanthoseofyourcat,buttheystillhavetheirbasisininstincivilizedsocieties,espeEnglish-speakihisistooapttotten。Peopleproposetothemselvessomeoneparamouive,arainallimpulsesthatdonotmi。Abusinessmanmaybesoanxioustogrowrichthattothisendhesacrificeshealthaiohehasbeeriopleasureremainstohimexceptharryingotherpeoplebyexhortationstoimitatehisnobleexample。Manyrichladies,althoughehanyspontaneouspleasureiureorart,decidetobethoughtcultured,andspendbhtherightthingtosayaboutfashiohatarewritte,nottoaffordopportunitiesfordustysnobbism。