Happiness: Essays on the meaning of life — John Shaqi
Happiness: Essays on the meaning of lifeHilty, Karl
Philosophy
Happiness: Essays on the meaning of life
Hilty, Karl
Conduct of life; Happiness
If, then, one begins simply to live as in a moral world, his path to
happiness lies plainly before him. The door is open and no man can shut
it. Within his heart there is a certain stability, rest, and assurance,
which endure and even gather strength amid all outward storms. His
heart becomes, as the Psalmist says, not froward or fearful, but
“fixed.” The only peril from which he now has to guard himself is
the peril of regarding too seriously the changeful impressions and
events of each day. His desire must be to live resolutely in one even
mood, and to look for his daily share of conscious happiness not in
his emotions, but in his activity. Then for the first time he learns
what work really is. It is no more to him a fetish, to be served
with anxious fear; it is no longer an idol through which he worships
himself; it is simply the natural and healthy way of life, which frees
him not only from the many spiritual evils which are produced by
idleness, but also from numberless physical evils which have the same
source. Happy work is the healthiest of human conditions. Honest sweat
on the brow is the source of permanent and self-renewing power and of
light-heartedness; and these together make one really happy. Indeed,
the later discoveries of medical science are teaching us that physical
health is secured only by a high degree of power of resistance against
enemies which life cannot avoid. But this power of resistance--as one
may soon discover--is not a merely physical capacity; it is quite as
much a moral quality and in large part the product of moral effort.
Here, then, are two secrets of happiness which are fundamentally
inseparable: Life directed by faith in the permanent moral order of
the world, and Work done in that same faith. Beyond these two, and one
other which I shall mention later, all other ways of happiness are
secondary, and indeed all else comes of its own accord, according to
one’s special needs, if only one holds firmly to these primary sources
of spiritual power.
I go on to mention a few of these subordinate rules for happiness which
may be deduced from the experience of life. They are mere maxims of
conduct to which many others might be added.
We need, for instance, to be at the same time both brave and humble.
That is the meaning of the strange word of the Apostle: “When I am
weak, then am I strong.” Either quality alone does more harm than good.
Again, one must not make pleasure an end, for pleasure comes of its own
accord in the right way of life, and the simplest, the cheapest, and
the most inevitable pleasures are the best.
Again, one can bear all troubles, except two: worry and sin.
Further, all that is really excellent has a small beginning. The good
does not show its best at once.
Finally, all paths which it is best to follow, are entered by open
doors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account