Friday, November 10, 2006

Happiness is bullshit

I was perusing the weekend section of the Guardian and came across this gem. Fairly poignant.

"Happiness is bullshit. The whole concept is. Asking what happiness is is a question of the order of asking what is the secret of the universe. It implies someone is either happy or unhappy, denying the reality that almost all of us live with a mixture of the two. Happiness means different things to different people: floating your boat if you can, avoidance of pain, replacing fear and desire with indifference, paying the mortgage or rent. For me it is the feeling that I am winning the battle to remain as alive as possible."

*snaps*

9 comments:

  1. That seems too glass half empty to me.

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  2. This person is quite obviously a douchebag.

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  3. Wow. I kind of agreed with some of his logic.

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  4. Well, I agree with "happiness means different things to different people" which I guess explains why I don't relate to, "it is the feeling that I am winning the battle to remain as alive as possible."

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  5. Well, considering i'm 75% full of happiness, his wording rubbed me the wrong way.

    Happiness, to me, is a way of life...
    perhaps he picked the wrong week to get my panties in a bunch.

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  6. When I read that in the paper I thought perhaps he was just being particularly English. But I agree that happiness means different things to different people - one person's junk is another person's treasure!

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  7. The guy is a douche, if only because he starts with "happiness is bullshit" and then ends by stating what makes him happy. So happiness is not bullshit. He's just a douche.

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  8. The happiness is bullshit part is, well bullshit. However, I do feel he has a point in that we are usually a mix of both happy and unhappy. Maybe not, though. Maybe 100% happiness is possible.

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  9. Anonymous12:36 PM

    I love this post, but I suppose you knew I would.
    "There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness." -Carl Jung

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