the conquest of happiness

An analysis of

the conquest of happiness

by Bertrand

Russell

Animals are happy so long as they have health and enough to eat.

Human beings, one feels, ought to be, but in the modern world they are

not, at least in a great majority of cases. So, what is happiness? It is such

an abstract concept that we cannot explain it clearly and completely, but

we do feel the condition in which we live happy or not in our daily life

from the bottom of our heart. Different people have different ideas about

happiness.

Recently

I

have

read

Bertrand

Russell

’

s

the

conquest

of

happiness,

in which the thought is so advanced and close to reality that it

makes a deep impression on me. Nowadays, with acceleration of our life

pace, people

’

s living condition has skyrocketed compared with past in the

pursuit of a happy and high quality life, but as we can see the happy index

is decreasing. Everyone is complaining the life in one aspect or another.

After

the

reading,

I

feel

my

heart

full

of

richness

and

I

cannot

help

thinking about the methods towards happiness and suddenly it crawls to

my

mind

that

every

living

creature

can

live

in

the

paradise

consists

of

happiness instead of a hell schemed by Satan.

The conquest of happiness

can be divided into two parts: causes of

unhappiness and causes of happiness. In the first part, Russell talks about

what

makes

people

unhappy,

including

Byronic

Unhappiness,

Boredom

and Excitement, Fatigue, Envy and so on, in which the argument about

Competition

impresses

me

most.

Our

society

is

a

competitive

society;

people

tend

to

weight

a

person

’

s

value

in

terms

of

money,

status,

fame

and

success,

let

alone

those

regard

them

as

life

goals.

From

Russell’

s

perspective, the root of the trouble springs from too much emphasis upon

competitive

success

as

the

main

source

of

happiness,

which

I

couldn

’

t

agree more. He does not deny that the feeling of success makes it easier

to enjoy life, but that success can only be one ingredient in happiness, and

is too dearly purchased if all the other ingredients have been sacrificed to

obtain

it.

However,

many

modern

citizens

have

been

drawn

into

this

battle

and

to

our

regret,

they

don’

t

notice

it.

These

people,

who

I

call

enterprise-orientated

person,

immerse

themselves

in

completing

against

each other, even if they are on the summit, they cannot put their burdens

down,

worrying

others

may

transcend

them,

which

results

in

a

vicious

circle---

furious

competition.

They

do

care

for

their

family

in

an

economic way, but they do not spend time with family members chatting

and gaming to share the bliss of a household.

The walking life of these

person have the psychology of a hundred-yards race, but as the race upon

which

he

is

engaged

is

one

whose

only

goal

is

the

grave,

the

concentration, which is appropriate enough for a hundred yards, becomes

in the end somewhat excessive just as Russell describes:

Competition considered as the main thing in life is too grim,

too tenacious, too much a matter of taut muscles and intent will, to make