Why, O Gish, does thou run about?
The life that thou seekest, thou wilt not find.
when the gods created mankind,
Death they imposed on mankind;
Life they kept in their power.
Thou, O Gish, fill thy belly,
Day and night do you rejoice,
Daily make a rejoicing!
Day and night a renewal of jollification!
Let thy clothes be clean,
Wash thy head and pour water over thee!
Care for the little one who takes hold of thy hand!
Let the wife rejoice in thy bosom!
[tr. Jastrow/Clay (1920)]

Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find the life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man.
[tr. Sandars (1960)]

Gilgamesh, where are you wandering? The life that you are seeking all around you will not find. When the gods created mankind they fixed Death for mankind, and held back Life in their own hands. Now you, Gilgamesh, let your belly be full! Be happy day and night, of each day make a party, dance in circles day and night! Let your clothes be sparkling clean, let your head be clean, wash yourself with water! Attend to the little one who holds onto your hand, let a wife delight in your embrace. This is the [true] task of mankind.
[tr. Kovacs (1989)]

[...] Remember always, mighty king, that gods decreed the fate of all many years ago. They alone are let to be eternal, while we frail humans die as you yourself must someday do. What is best for us to do now to sing and dance. Relish warm food and cool drinks. Cherish children to whom your love gives life. Bathe easily, in sweet, refreshing waters. Play joyfully with your chosen wife. It is the will of the gods for you to smile on simple pleasure in the leisure time of your short days.
[tr. Jackson (1997)]

[...] But you, Gilgamesh, let your belly be full,
enjoy yourself always by day and by night!
Make merry each day,
dance and play day and night!
Let your clothes be clean,
let your head be washed, may you bathe in water!
Gaze on the child who holds your hand,
let your wife enjoy your repeated embrace!
[tr. George (1999)]

What you want, you cannot have. You will not find a life that does not die. When maknind was created by the gods, they kept undying life for themselve; they gave death to man.
So, Gilgamesh, fill your stomach. Enjoy yourself. Take pleasure every day and every night in every way you can. Play. Dance. Refresh yourself with baths. Wash your hair. Put on clean clothes. Take your child's hand in yours and take your wife on your lap. That is life.
[tr. Harris (2001)]

Thy constant grief shall never cease; nor mild
Thy life shall ever be if thou persist
Upon this foolish quest; thy deeds resist
The will of heaven's way's the gods bestowed
On us the ways of death with sorrow owed
To every living man; the gods reserved
Eternal life for their delight; -- unnerved
By this? This is the scheme of things, -- accept
Thy lot; enjoy the sun, thy children kept
In later years, and fleeting life today;
Remove thy needless burden; come what may.
[tr. Watson (2023)]

Ease consumeth us. It is that, which on old Greeke verse saith, of such a sense. The Gods sell us all the goods they give us; that is to say, they give us not one pure and perfect, and that which we buy not with the price of some evill.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

Pleasure preys upon us, according to the old Greek verse, which says, "That the gods sell us all the good they give us;" that is to say, that they give us nothing pure and perfect, and which we do not purchase but at the price of some evil.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

Ease eats us up. This is said by the ancient Greek verse, to this effect: "The gods sell us all the goods they give us"; that is to say, they give us none pure and perfect, and which we do not purchase at the cost of some ill.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

Happiness racks us. That is what an old Greek verse says, in this sense: "The gods sell us all the good things they give us." That is to say, they give us none pure and perfect, none that we do not buy at the price of some evil.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

Pleasure chews and grinds us.
[ed. Rat (1958)]

Ease crushes us. That is what is meant by that line of ancient Greek poetry: "The gods sell us all the pleasures which they give us"; that is to say, none that they give us is pure and perfect: we can only buy them at the price of some suffering.
[tr. Screech (1987)]

Look within; within is the fountain of all good. Such a fountain, where springing waters can never fail, so thou dig still deeper and deeper.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 7.31]

Look Inwards, and turn over your self; For you have a lasting Mine of Happiness at home, if you will but Dig for't.
[tr. Collier (1701), 7.60]

Look inwards; within is the fountain of good; which is ever springing up, if you be always digging in it.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]

Look into your own bosom; for you have there a fountain of happiness, if you will searcyh for it, and suffer it to flow without interruption.
[tr. Graves (1792), 7.52]

Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.
[tr. Long (1862)]

Look inwards, for you have a lasting fountain of happiness at home that will always bubble up if you will but dig for it.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]

Dig within. Within is the fountain of good; ever dig, and it will ever well forth water.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]

Look inward. Within is the fountain of Good. Dig constantly and it will ever well forth.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]

Look within. Within is the fountain of Good, ready always to well forth if thou wilt always delve.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]

Delve within; within is the fountain of good, and it is always ready to bubble up, if you always delve.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]

Dig within; for within you lies the fountain of good, and it can always be gushing forth if only you always dig.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]

Dig deep; the water -- goodness -- is down there. And as long as you keep digging, it will keep bubbling up.
[tr. Hays (2003)]

Dig inside yourself. Inside there is a spring of goodness ready to gush at any moment, if you keep digging.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]

Turn your attention within, for the fountain of all that is good lies within, and it is always ready to pour forth, if you continually delve in.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]

Dig within; for within you lies the fountain of good, and it can always be gushing forth if only you always dig.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]

Search inside yourself; inside you is the fountain of goodness, and it continues to surge as long as you search.
[ed. Taplin (2016)]

He who allows his happiness to depend too much on reason, who submits his pleasures to examination, and desires enjoyments only of the most refined nature, too often ends by not having any at all.
[tr. De Finod (1884)]

The man who makes his happiness too subject to his reason, who submits it to examination, who, as it were, quibbles with his enjoyment and recognizes only fastidious pleasures, will finish by having none at all. He is as one who makes his mattress smaller and smaller with assiduous carding until he ends by sleeping on the wood.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]

One who wishes to make his happiness too much dependent on his reason, who examines his happiness closely, and who so to say quibbles with his enjoyments, ends by no longer having any. He is one who, by dint of having his mattress carded, sees it dwindle, and finishes by sleeping on the bare boards.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]

Someone who wants his happiness to be too supported by reason, who examines it, who so to say quibbles over what he enjoys, and only allows himself pleasures that have delicacy, ends by not having any. He is a man who, because he wants his mattress to fit perfectly on his bed, continuously has to make it smaller, and ends up sleeping on the floor.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

Anyone who relies too heavily on reason to achieve happiness, who analyses it, who so to speak quibbles over his enjoyment and can accept only refined pleasures, ends up not having any at all. He's like a man who wants to get rid of all the lumps in his mattress and eventually ends up sleeping on bare boards because he's made it too small.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 135]

One night, I beheld in a dream a sage, who said to me, "In sleep, O mhy friend, the rose of joy has never blossomed for any man. Why do you do a deed so like to death? Arise, and drink wine, for you will sleep sound enough beneath the earth.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 47] (1888)]

Last night I dreamed I met a sage who said:
"Doth e'er in sleep the rosebud lift its head?
Why sleep, for sleep is but akin to death,
And thou shalt sleep enough when thou art dead?"
[tr. Garner (1887), 91]

Life is so short, yet sleeps thy lovely head;
Why make so soon a death-bed of thy bed?
O love, awake! thy beauty wastes away --
Thou shalt sleep on and on when thou art dead.
[tr. Le Gallienne (1897), # 33]

In a dream of the night quoth a sage me unto:
"Rose of gladness for mortal from sleep never blew;
A thing, then, to death that akin is why do?
Up, for under the earth thou shalt slumber thy due!"
[tr. Payne (1898), # 196]

I fell asleep, and wisdom said to me: --
"Never from sleep has the rose of happiness blossomed for anyone;
why do a thing that is the mate of death?
Drink wine, for thou must sleep for ages."
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 27]

'Twas while I slept, that thus a wise man spoke: --
"Sleep never caused joy's rose in man to bloom,
Why court you thus the fellow of death's yoke?
Drink now, you'll sleep enough in earth's dark womb."
[tr. Cadell (1899), # 16]

I lay upon my couch in slumber deep,
And Wisdom cried aloud, "Oh, wherefore sleep?
For sleep is kin to death; drink while you may;
Eternal slumber hastens o'er the steep!"
[tr. Roe (1906), # 20]

I dreamt that Wisdom came to me and said,
"In sleep for none joy's roses petals spread,
In life why dost thou mimic death? Arise!
For sleep thou must when 'neath earth is thy bed."
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 93]

Falling asleep, I heard my Fate confess
That Sleep ne'er bore the Rose of Happiness.
"Sleep is the Mate of Death," she cried. "Awake!
Drink, ere Her lips bestow the last caress!"
[tr. Talbot (1908), # 27]

I dropped asleep. A wise man said to me: "From sleep
the rose of pleasure did never bloom for anyone.
Why do you meddle with that which is of a piece
with death ? Drink wine for we must sleep during many a lifetime."
[tr. Christensen (1927), # 59]

I fell asleep, and a wise man said to me:
"Sleep has brought to no one the rose of bliss.
Why do a thing which is the twin of death?
Drink wine, for many a life-time you must slumber".
[tr. Rosen (1928), # 43]

In sleep I was -- A sage then told me so:
"In darkness fruit of bliss will never grow,
Arise and fight with Death, avoid his blow;
Ere long you sleep within The Pit below."
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 7.1]

I was asleep, a wise man said to me
"The rose of joy does not bloom for slumberers;
Why are you asleep? Sleep is the image of death,
Drink wine, below the ground you must sleep of necessity.
[tr. Avery/Heath-Stubbs (1979), # 159]

Farewell. And sure the man
To whom this wish is granted, he who feels
No pressure of calamity, is blest.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Farewell! Any mortal who is able to fare well, and is not worn down by any misfortune, achieves happiness.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

Farewell; but whosoever of mortals is able to fare well, and bends not under some misfortune, fares happily.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

Farewell! Ah, whosoe'er may know this blessing,
To fare well, never crushed 'neath ills oppressing,
Alone of mortals tastes abiding bliss.
[tr. Way (1896)]

Farewell, farewell! -- But he who can so fare,
And stumbleth not on mischief anywhere,
Blessèd on earth is he!
[tr. Murray (1905)]

Farewell! truly that mortal's is a happy lot, who can thus fare, unafflicted bv any woe.
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]

Good bye. Blessed is the human who can live happily without the weight of suffering.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]

Farewell. Any mortal who can indeed live well
without being ground down by misfortune,
that man will find his happiness.
[tr. Johnston (2009)]

However, as we have just indicated, brains absorbed in wisdom, or in folly, or, as often happens, in both at once, are but very slowly permeable by the affairs of life. Their own destiny is far from them. There results from such concentrations of mind a passivity which, if it were due to reason, would resemble philosophy . We decline, we descend, we fall, we are even overthrown, and we hardly perceive it. This always ends, it is true, by an awakening, but a tardy one. In the meantime, it seems as though we were neutral in the game which is being played between our good and our ill fortune. We are the stake, yet we look upon the contest with indifference.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]

As we have remarked, things of this world permeate very slowly brains absorbed in wisdom, or mania, or, as often happens, in both at once. Their own destiny is remote from them. The result of such concentrations is a passiveness which, were it of a reasoning nature, would resemble philosophy. Men sink, pass away, drift away, even crumble away without exactly noticing, though this always ends with a re-awakening, but a tardy one. In the meanwhile, it appears as if they are neutral in the game which is being played between their happiness and misery; they are the stakes, and look on at the game with indifference.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

In general, as we have already suggested, minds absorbed in wisdom or in folly, or in both at once as often happens, are little affected by the vicissitudes of daily life. Their personal destiny is a thing remote from them. Such detachment creates a state of acquiescence which, if it were the outcome of reflection, might be termed philosophical. But they submit to losses and reverses, even to physical decay, without being much aware of them. It is true that in the end there is an awakening, but it is late in coming. In the meantime they stand as it were aloof from the play of personal fortune and misfortune, pawns in a game of which they are detached spectators.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

However, as we have just indicated, brains absorbed in wisdom, in folly, or, as often happens, in both at once, are permeated only slowly by the affairs of life. Their own destiny is far from them. From such concentrations of mind comes a passivity which, if due to reason, would resemble philosophy. We decline, we descend, we fall, we are even overthrown, and we hardly notice it. This always ends, it is true, in an awakening, but a tardy one. In the meantime, we seem neutrals in the game being played between our good and our ill fortune. We are the stake, yet we look on the contest with indifference.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

However, as we have just suggested, minds engrossed in wisdom or folly , or, as is often the case, in both at the same time, are only very slowly pervious to matters of everyday life. Their own destiny is far removed from them. resulting from this kind of concentration is a passivity, which, if there were any reasoning behind it, would seem philosophical. Such minds go into a decline, they sink, they languish, they even come to grief without really being aware of it. True, this always ends with an awakening, but a belated one. In the meantime it is as if they had no interest in the game that plays out between their happiness and their unhappiness. They who are themselves as stake watch the game with indifference.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]

Worldly wealth is the devil's bait: so writes Bernard; and as the Moon, when she is fuller of light, is still farthest from the Sun, the more wealth they have, the farther they are commonly from God.

Worldly wealth, indeed, is the devil's bait; and those whose minds feed upon riches recede, in general, from real happiness, in proportion as their stores increase; as the Moon when she is fullest is farthest from the Sun.

A little house well filled,
A little land well tilled,
And a little wife well willed,
Are great riches.

A little house well fill'd,
a little land well till'd,
and a little wife well will'd.

A little Farm well tilled,
A little Cot well filled,
A little Wife well will'd,
Give me, give me.

The great evil of the passions does not lie in the torments which they bring upon men, but in the faults and shameful actions they cause him to commit. Were it not for this drawback they would have too great an advantage over cold reason, which can never be productive of happiness. His passions make man live, his wisdom only makes him last.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]

The unfortunate thing about passions is not the misery they make one commit, and which degrade man. Without these disadvantages, they would overpower cold reason, which does not in the least a source of happiness. Passions make men live, wisdom only makes the endure.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]

The great disaster of passions is not the torment they cause, but the debasing errors and depravity into which they lead men. Without these drawbacks, passion would enjoy many advantages over cold reason, which never produces happiness. Passions enable men to live, wisdom merely enables them to survive.
[tr. Dusinberre (1992)]

The great misfortune of passions does not come from the torments that they cause, but from the base things they make a person do, and which degrade him. Without these inconveniences, they would have too many advantages over cold reason, which never makes people happy. Passions make a man live, wisdom and facts only make him endure.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

Let my wealthy man take with him fears, sorrows, covetousness, suspicion, disquiet, contentions, making immense additions to his estate only by adding to his heap of most bitter cares; and let my poor man take with him sufficiency with little, love of kindred, neighbours, friends, joyous peace, peaceful religion, soundness of body, sincereness of heart, abstinence of diet, chastity of carriage, and security of conscience. Where should a man find any one so sottish as would make a doubt which of these to prefer in his choice?
[tr. Healey (1610)]

But the rich man is anxious with fears, pining with discontent, burning with covetousness, never secure, always uneasy, panting from the perpetual strife of his enemies, adding to his patrimony indeed by these miseries to an immense degree, and by these additions also heaping up most bitter cares. But that other man of moderate wealth is contented with a small and compact estate, most dear to his own family, enjoying the sweetest peace with his kindred neighbors and friends, in piety religious, benignant in mind, healthy in body, in life frugal, in manners chaste, in conscience secure. I know not whether any one can be such a fool, that he dare hesitate which to prefer.
[ed. Dods (1871)]

But, our wealthy man is haunted by fear, heavy with cares, feverish with greed, never secure, always restless, breathless from endless quarrels with his enemies. By these miseries, he adds to his possessions beyond measure, but he also piles up for himself a mountain of distressing worries. The man of modest means is content with a small and compact patrimony. He is loved by his own, enjoys the sweetness of peace, in his relations with kindred, neighbors, and friends, is religious and pious, of kindly disposition, healthy in body, self-restrained, chaste in morals, and at peace with his conscience. I wonder if there is anyone so senseless as to hesitate over which of the two to prefer.
[tr. Zema/Walsh (1950)]

Let us suppose that the rich man is troubled by fears, pining with grief, burning with desire, never secure, always restless, panting in ceaseless struggles with his foes, though he does, to be sure, by dint of such suffering accumulate great additions to his estate even beyond measure, these additions adding also their quota of corrosive anxieties. Let the man of modest means, on the other hand, be self-sufficient on his trim and tiny property, beloved by his family, enjoying the most agreeable relations with his kindred, neighbours and friends, devoutly religious, kindly disposed, in good physical condition, leading a simple life, free from vice and untroubled in conscience. I don’t suppose that there is anyone so foolish as to think of doubting which one he would prefer.
[tr. Green (Loeb) (1963)]

But the rich man is tortured by fears, worn out with sadness, burnt up with ambition, never knowing serenity of repose, always panting and sweating in his struggles with opponents. It may be true that he enormously swells his patrimony, but at the cost of those discontents, while by this increase he heaps up a load of further anxiety and bitterness. The other man, the ordinary citizen, is content with his strictly limited resources. He is loved by family and friends; he enjoys the blessing of peace with his relations, neighbours, and friends; he is loyal, compassionate, and kind, healthy in body, temperate in habits, of unblemished character, and enjoys the serenity of a good conscience. I do not think anyone would be fool enough to hesitate about which he would prefer.
[tr. Bettenson (1972)]

The wealthy man, however, is troubled by fears; he pines with grief; he burns with greed. He is never secure; he is always unquiet and panting from endless confrontations with his enemies. To be sure, he adds to his patrimony in immense measure by these miseries; but alongside these additions he also heaps up the most bitter cares. By contrast, the man of moderate means is self-sufficient on his small and circumscribed estate. He is of his own family, and rejoices in the most sweet peace with kindred, neighbours and friends. He is devoutly religious, well disposed in mind, healthy in body, frugal in life, chaste in morals, untroubled in conscience. I do not know if anyone could be such a fool as to dare to doubt which to prefer.
[tr. Dyson (1998)]

You cannot show such estates to be anyway happy, as are in continual wars, and constantly in terror, trouble, and guilt of shedding human blood, though it be their foes’; with what reason or wisdom any man doth wish to glory in the largeness of empire, since all their joy is but as a glass, bright and brittle, and evermore in fear and danger of breaking.
[tr. Healey (1610)]

Is it reasonable and wise to glory in the extent and greatness of the Empire when you can in no way prove that there is any real happiness in men perpetually living amid the horrors of war, perpetually wading in blood? Does it matter whether it is the blood of their fellow citizens or the blood of their enemies? It is still human blood, in men perpetually haunted by the gloomy spectre of fear and driven by murderous passions. The happiness arising from such conditions is a thing of glass, of mere glittering brittleness. One can never shake off the horrible dread that it may suddenly shiver into fragments.
[tr. Zema/Walsh (1950)]

You cannot show that men are happy who live always amid the disasters of war. It matters not whether the blood shed is that of fellow-citizens or of enemies; in any case it is the blood of men. The dark shadow of fear and the lust for blood are always with them. Any joy that they know is like the glitter of brittle glass, which inspires the frightful thought that it may suddenly be shattered.
[tr. Green (Loeb) (1963)]

Is it reasonable, is it sensible, to boast of the extent and grandeur of empire, when you cannot show that men lived in happiness, as they passed their lives amid the horrors of war, amid the shedding of men's blood -- whether the blood of enemies or fellow-citizens -- under the shadow of fear and amid the terror of ruthless ambition? The only joy to be attained had the fragile brilliance of glass, a joy outweighed by the fear that it may be shattered in a moment.
[tr. Bettenson (1972)]

Is it wise or prudent to wish to glory in the breadth and magnitude of an empire when you cannot show that the men whose empire it is are happy? For the Romans always lived in dark fear and cruel lust, surrounded by the disasters of war and the shedding of blood which, whether that of fellow citizens or enemies, was human nonetheless. The joy of such men may be compared to the fragile splendour of glass: they are horribly afraid lest it be suddenly shattered.
[tr. Dyson (1998)]

What reason or sense is there in wanting to boast of the size and expanse of an empire when you cannot show that its people are happy? Or why boast of an empire if its people always dwell in the midst of the disasters of war and the spilling of blood -- the blood of fellow-citizens or the blood of foreign enemies, but, in either case, human blood -- and always live under the dark shadow of fear and in the lust for blood? Any joy they have may be compared to the fragile brilliance of glass: there is always the terrible fear that it will suddenly be shattered.
[tr. Babcock (2012)]

There will always be a stray dog somewhere in the world who'll stop me being happy.
[tr. Hill (1957)]

Pleasure may rest upon illusion, but felicity must repose upon truth.
[tr. Mathers (1926), # 153]

Pleasure may be be based on illusion, but happiness rests on truth.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

Pleasure can be based on illusion, but happiness is founded on truth.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]

Pleasure may be based on illusion, but happiness rests on truth.
[tr. Epstein (1991)]

• "Pleasure can be supported by an illusion; but happiness rests upon truth."
• "Pleasure may come from illusion, but happiness can come only of reality."

He, the grape, that med'cine for our cares,
Bestow'd on favour'd mortals. Take away
The sparkling Wine, fair Venus smiles no more
And every pleasure quits the human race.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

He gives to mortals the vine that puts an end to grief. Without wine there is no longer Aphrodite or any other pleasant thing for men.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

He hath given the sorrow-soothing vine to man
For where wine is not love will never be,
Nor any other joy of human life.
[tr. Milman (1865)]

He gives the soothing vine
Which stills the sorrow of the human heart;
Where wine is absent, love can never be;
Where wine is absent, other joys are gone.
[tr. Rogers (1872), l. 732ff]

’Twas he that gave the vine to man, sorrow’s antidote. Take wine away and Cypris flies, and every other human joy is dead.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

He gave men the grief-assuaging vine.
When wine is no more found, then Love is not,
Nor any joy beside is left to men.
[tr. Way (1898)]

This is he who first to man did give
The grief-assuaging vine. Oh, let him live;
For if he die, then Love herself is slain,
And nothing joyous in the world again!
[tr. Murray (1902)]

It was he,
or so they say, who gave to mortal men
the gift of lovely wine by which our suffering
is stopped. And if there is no god of wine,
there is no love, no Aphrodite either,
nor other pleasures left to men.
[tr. Arrowsmith (1960)]

They say that he
has given to men the vine that ends pain.
If wine were no more, then Cypris is no more
nor anything else delighted for mankind.
[tr. Kirk (1970)]

It was he who gave men the gift of the vine as a cure for sorrow. And if there were no more wine, why, there's an end of love, and of every other pleasure in life.
[tr. Vellacott (1973)]

Didn't he make us
Mortal men the gift of wine? If that is true
You have much to thank him for -- wine makes
Our labors bearable. Take wine away
And the world is without joy, tolerance, or love.
[tr. Soyinka (1973)]

The sorrow-ceasing vine he gives to mortals.
Without wine there is no Aphrodite,
nor longer any other delight for men.
[tr. Neuburg (1988)]

It was he,
so they say, who gave to us, poor mortals, the gift of wine,
that numbs all sorrows.
If wine should ever cease to be,
then so will love.
No pleasures left for men.
[tr. Cacoyannis (1982)]

He himself, I hear them say,
Gave the pain-killing vine to men.
When wine is no more, neither is love.
Nor any other pleasure for mankind.
[tr. Blessington (1993)]

He gave to mortals the vine that stops pain.
If there were no more wine, then there is no more Aphrodite
nor any other pleasure for mankind.
[tr. Esposito (1998)]

It's he who gave
To mortals the vine that stops all suffering.
Adn if wine were to exist no longer, then
Neither would the goddess Aphrodite,
Nor anything of pleasure for us mortals.
[tr. Gibbons/Segal (2000), l. 885ff]

He gave to mortals the vine that puts an end to pain. If there is no wine, there is no Aphrodite or any other pleasure for mortals.
[tr. Kovacs (2002)]

Besides, he's given us the gift of wine,
Without which man desires nor endures not.
[tr. Teevan (2002)]

He’s the god who brought the wine to the mortals. Great stuff that. It stops all sadness. Truth is, my Lord, when the wine is missing so does love and then… well, then there’s nothing sweet left for us mortals.
[tr. Theodoridis (2005)]

He is the one who gave us the vine that gives
pause from pain; and if there is no wine, there'll be no more
Aphrodite, & there is no other gift to give such pleasure to us mortals.
[tr. Valerie (2005)]

He gives to mortal human beings that vine which puts an end to human grief. Without wine, there's no more Aphrodite -- or any other pleasure left for men.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]

He is great in so many ways -- not least, I hear say,
for his gift of wine to mortal men.
Wine, which puts an end to sorrow and to pain.
And if there is no wine, there is no Aphrodite,
And without her no pleasure left at all.
[tr. Robertson (2014)]

When wine is gone, there is no more Cypris,
nor anything else to delight a mortal heart.
[tr. @sentantiq/Robinson (2015)]

He gave mortals the pain-pausing vine.
When there is no wine, Cypris is absent,
And human beings have no other pleasure.
[tr. @sentantiq (2015)]

I’ve heard he gave the grapevine to us mortals, as an end to pain.
And without wine, we’ve got no chance with Aphrodite. Or anything else good, for that matter.
[tr. Pauly (2019)]

He even gives to mortals the grape that brings relief from cares. Without wine there is no longer Kypris or any other delightful thing for humans.
[tr. Buckley/Sens/Nagy (2020)]

He gave mortals the pain-relieving vine.
But when there is no more wine, there is no Aphrodite
Nor any other pleasure left for human beings.
[tr. @sentantiq (2021)]

No greater grief assails us [...]
Than in unhappy hours to recollect
A better time.
[tr. Rogers (1782)]

Oh! how grievous to relate
Past joys, and tread again the paths of fate.
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 23]

No greater grief than to remember days
Of joy, when mis'ry is at hand!
[tr. Cary (1814)]

No keener pang hath hell.
Than to recall, amid some deep distress,
Our happier time.
[tr. Dayman (1843)]

There is no greater pain than to recall a happy time in wretchedness.
[tr. Carlyle (1849)]

There is no greater grief
Than to remember happiness in woe.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]

No greater grief than this,
Mem'ry to hold of the past happy time
In misery.
[tr. Johnston (1867)]

There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery.
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]

No greater woe is there than to call to mind the happy time in your misery.
[tr. Butler (1885)]

There is no greater grief
Than to remember us of happy time
In misery.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]

There is no greater woe than in misery to remember the happy time.
[tr. Norton (1892)]

No deeper sorrow is, than to recall a time of happiness, in misery's hour.
[tr. Sullivan (1893)]

There is no greater sorrow
Than to recall to memory times of gladness
In misery.
[tr. Griffith (1908)]

There is no greater pain than to recall the happy time in misery.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]

No grief surpasses this [...]
In the midst of misery to remember bliss.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]

The bitterest woe of woes
Is to remember in our wretchedness
Old happy times.
[tr. Sayers (1949)]

The double grief of a lost bliss
is to recall its happy hour in pain.
[tr. Ciardi (1954), ll. 118-19]

There is no greater sorrow than to recall, in wretchedness, the happy time.
[tr. Singleton (1970)]

There is no greater pain
than to remember, in our present grief,
past happiness!
[tr. Musa (1971)]

There is no greater sorrow
than thinking back upon a happy time
in misery.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1980)]

There is no greater sorrow
Than to think backwards to a happy time,
When one is miserable.
[tr. Sisson (1981)]

No sadness
Is greater than in misery to rehearse
Memories of joy.
[tr. Pinsky (1994), l. 107ff]

There is no greater pain than to remember the happy time in wretchedness.
[tr. Durling (1996)]

There is no greater pain, than to remember happy times in misery.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

There is no greater pain, I fear,
than to recall past joy in present hell.
[tr. Carson (2002)]

There is no sorrow greater
than, in times of misery, to hold at heart
the memory of happiness.
[tr. Kirkpatrick (2006)]

There is no greater sorrow
than to recall our time of joy
in wretchedness.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]

No sadness afflicts the heart
More than recalling, in times of utter disaster,
Sweetened days in which we knew no darkness.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]

What's sadder than remembering
The happy past when you're feeling wretched?
[tr. Bang (2012)]

We must laugh before we are happy, or else we may die before we have cause to laugh.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

We must laugh before we are happy, for fear we die before we laugh at all.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

We must laugh before we are happy, or else we may die before we ever laugh at all.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

We must laugh before we are happy, or else we may die before ever having laughed at all.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]

We must laugh before we are happy, for fear of dying before we have laughed.
[tr. Lee (1903), "Brief Reflections on Men and Things"]

One and the same thing, hath its good day, and its bad. Examine it on the fairest side. We must not give the contrary reines to good and evil.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]

The same thing looks quite different in another light; look at it therefore on its best side and do not exchange good for evil.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

For one and the same thing has very different faces, as seen in different lights; look upon it in its happiest light, and do not get the controls mixed, as to what is good and what is bad.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

Happiness is thought to stand in perfect rest; for we toil that we may rest, and war that we may be at peace.
[tr. Chase (1847), ch. 6]

It would seem that happiness is the very antithesis of a busy life, in that it is compatible with perfect leisures. And it is with such leisure in view that a busy life is always led, exactly as war is only waged for the sake of ultimate peace.
[tr. Williams (1869)]

The end of labor is to gain leisure.
[in Ballou, Treasury of Thought (1872)]

Happiness is thought to depend on leisure; for we are busy that we may have leisure, and make war that we may live in peace.
[tr. Ross (1908)]

Happiness is thought to involve leisure; for we do business in order that we may have leisure, and carry on war in order that we may have peace.
[tr. Rackham (1934)]

Happiness seems to reside in leisure, since we do unleisured things in order to be at leisure, and wage war in order to live in peace.
[tr. Reeve (1948)]

Happiness is thought to depend on leisure; for we toil for the sake of leisurely activity, and we are at war for the sake of peaceful activity.
[tr. Apostle (1975)]

Happiness seems to depend on leisure, because we work to have leisure, and wage war to live in peace.
[tr. Crisp (2000)]

[Because], happiness seems to reside in leisure, we labor [sacrifice leisure] so that we may have leisure.
[tr. @sentantiq (2018)]

Happiness then stands not in amusement; in fact the very notion is absurd of the End being amusement, and of one’s toiling and enduring hardness all one’s life long with a view to amusement: for everything in the world, so to speak, we choose with some further End in view, except Happiness, for that is the End comprehending all others. Now to take pains and to labour with a view to amusement is plainly foolish and very childish: but to amuse one’s self with a view to steady employment afterwards, as Anacharsis says, is thought to be right: for amusement is like rest, and men want rest because unable to labour continuously. Rest, therefore, is not an End, because it is adopted with a view to Working afterwards.
[tr. Chase (1847), ch. 5]

And, hence it follows, that happiness does not consist in mere amusement. For, it is inconceivable that amusement should be the end and consummation of everything, and that a man should endure a lifetime of labour and suffering, with nothing higher than amusement in view. And this would be the case, were happiness identical with mere amusement. For there is, indeed, nothing whatever upon earth which we do not choose for the sake of something else beyond itself, with the one exception of happiness -- happiness being the one end of all things els. Now, that all earnestness and toil should tend to no higher end than mere amusement, is a view of life which is worse than childish, and fit only for a fool. But the saying of Anacharsis, "play makes us fit for work," would seem to be well spoken; for it would seem that amusement is a species of rest, and that men stand in need of rest, inasmuch as continuous exertion is not possible. And, hence, rest cannot be an end in itself, inasmuch as it is only sought with view to subsequent action.
[tr. Williams (1869)]

Happiness then does not consist in amusement. It would be paradoxical to hold that the end of human life is amusement, and that we should toil and suffer all our life for the sake of amusing ourselves. For we may be said to desire all things as means to something else except indeed happiness, as happiness is the end or perfect state. It appears to be foolish and utterly childish to take serious trouble and pains for the sake of amusement. But to amuse oneself with a view to being serious seems to be right, as Anacharsis says; for amusement is a kind of relaxation, and it is because we cannot work for ever that we need relaxation. Relaxation then is not an end. We enjoy it as a means to activity.
[tr. Welldon (1892)]

Happiness, therefore, does not consist in amusement; and indeed it is absurd to suppose that the end is amusement, and that we toil and moil all our life long for the sake of amusing ourselves. We may say that we choose everything for the sake of something else, excepting only happiness; for it is the end. But to be serious and to labour for the sake of amusement seems silly and utterly childish; while to amuse ourselves in order that we may be serious, as Anacharsis says, seems to be right; for amusement is a sort of recreation, and we need recreation because we are unable to work continuously. Recreation, then, cannot be the end; for it is taken as a means to the exercise of our faculties.
[tr. Peters (1893), 10.6.6]

Happiness, therefore, does not lie in amusement; it would, indeed, be strange if the end were amusement, and one were to take trouble and suffer hardship all one's life in order to amuse oneself. For, in a word, everything that we choose we choose for the sake of something else -- except happiness, which is an end. Now to exert oneself and work for the sake of amusement seems silly and utterly childish. But to amuse oneself in order that one may exert oneself, as Anacharsis puts it, seems right; for amusement is a sort of relaxation, and we need relaxation because we cannot work continuously. Relaxation, then, is not an end; for it is taken for the sake of activity.
[tr. Ross (1908)]

It follows therefore that happiness is not to be found in amusements. Indeed it would be strange that amusement should be our End -- that we should toil and moil all our life long in order that we may amuse ourselves. For virtually every object we adopt is pursued as a means to something else, excepting happiness, which is an end in itself; to make amusement the object of our serious pursuits and our work seems foolish and childish to excess: Anacharsis' motto, Play in order that you may work, is felt to be the right rule. For amusement is a form of rest; but we need rest because we are not able to go on working without a break, and therefore it is not an end, since we take it as a means to further activity.
[tr. Rackham (1934)]

Hence happiness does not lie in amusement, since it would indeed be strange if the end were amusement and we did all the work we do and suffered evil all our live for the sake of amusing ourselves. For, in a word, we choose everything -- except happiness, since end it is -- for the sake of something else. But to engage in serious matters and to labor for the sake of amusement would evidently be silly and utterly childish. On the contrary, "amusing ourselves so as to engage in serious matters," as Anacharsis puts it, seems to be correct. For amusement is like relaxation, and it is because people cannot labor continuously that they need relaxation. End, then, relaxation is not, since it occurs for the sake of activity.
[tr. Reeve (1948)]

It follows that happiness does not consist in amusement. Indeed, it would be paradoxical if the end were amusement; if we toiled and suffered all our lives long to amuse ourselves. For we choose practically everything for the sake of something else, except happiness, because it is the end. To spend effort and toil for the sake of amusement seems silly and unduly childish; but on the other hand the maxim of Anacharsis, "Play to work harder," seems to be on the right lines, because amusement is a form of relaxation, and people need relaxation because they cannot exert themselves continuously. Therefore relaxation is not an end, because it is taken for the sake of activity.
[tr. Thomson/Tredennick (1976)]

Happiness, then, is not found in amusement, for it would be absurd if the end were amusement, and our lifelong efforts and sufferings aimed at amusing ourselves. For we choose practically everything for some other end -- except for happiness, since it is the end; but serious work and toil amed only at amusement appears stupid and excessively childish. Rather, it seems correct to amuse ourselves so that we can do something serous, as Anacharsis says; for amusement would seem to be relaxation, and it is because we cannot toil continuously that we require relaxation. Relaxation, then, is not the end, since we pursue it to prepare for activity.
[tr. Irwin/Fine (1995)]

Happiness, then, does not consist in amusement, because it would be absurd if our end were amusement, and we laboured and suffered all of our lives for the sake of amusing ourselves. For we choose virtually everything for the sake of something else, except happiness, since it is the end; but serious work and exertion for the sake of amusement is manifestly foolish and extremely childish. Rather, as Anacharsis puts it, what seems correct is amusing ourselves so that we can engage in some serious work, since amusement is like relaxation, and we need relaxation because we cannot continuously exert ourselves. Relaxation, then, is not an end, since it occurs for the sake of activity.
[tr. Crisp (2000)]

Now since the Disturbances of the Soul render the Life miserable, but the composure of them happy; and there is a double rank of Passions; in that, Discontent and Fear are terminated on Evils conceiv'd; but excessive Mirth and Lust arise from the misapprehension of good things, since all are inconsistent with Advice and Reason, if you shall see any one clear, emancipated, free from these emotions so vehement, so discordant one with the other, and so distracting, can you make any question of calling him Happy? But the Wise man is always so dispos'd, therefore the Wise man is always Happy.
[tr. Wase (1643)]

But as the perturbations of the mind make life miserable, and tranquility renders it happy: and as these perturbations are of two sorts; grief and fear, proceeding from imagined evils, immoderate joy and lust, from the mistake of what is good; and all these are in opposition to reason and counsel; when you see a man at ease, quite free and disengaged from such troublesome commotions, which are so much at variance with one another, can you hesitate to pronounce such a one a happy man? Now the wise man is always in such a disposition: therefore the wise man is always happy.
[tr. Main (1824)]

But when the perturbations render life unhappy, while their repose makes it happy -- and since the mode of perturbation is twofold -- sorrow and fear having birth from reputed evils -- the delirium of joy and desire, from the delusion of good, -- when all these are repugnant to counsel and reason, and you see a man void, exempt, free from these excitements, so vehement, so discordant, so distracted by mutual conflicts, -- will you hesitate to pronounce him happy? But the wise man is always thus, and therefore always happy.
[tr. Otis (1839)]

But as the perturbations of the mind make life miserable, and tranquillity renders it happy; and as these perturbations are of two sorts, grief and fear, proceeding from imagined evils, and as immoderate joy and lust arise from a mistake about what is good, and as all these feelings are in opposition to reason and counsel; when you see a man at ease, quite free and disengaged from such troublesome commotions, which are so much at variance with one another can you hesitate to pronounce such an one a happy man? Now the wise man is always in such a disposition, therefore the wise man is always happy.
[tr. Yonge (1853)]

Now since perturbations of mind create misery, while quietness of mind makes life happy, and since there are two kinds of perturbations, grief and fear having their scope in imagined evils, inordinate joy and desire in mistaken notions of the good, all being repugnant to wise counsel and reason, will you hesitate to call him happy whom you see relieved, released, free from these excitements so oppressive, and so at variance and divided among themselves? Indeed one thus disposed is always happy. Therefore the wise man is always happy.
[tr. Peabody (1886)]

He therefore, call him by what name you will, who through Moderation and Constancy, hath quiet of mind, and is at Peace with himself; so as neither to fret out of Discontent, nor to be confounded with Fear, who neither is inflam'd with an impatient longing after any thing, nor ravish'd out of himself into the Fools Paradice of an empty Mirth; this is the wise man, after whom we are in quest; this the Happy man.
[tr. Wase (1643)]

Whoever then, through moderation and consistency, is at rest in his mind, and in calm possession of himself, so as neither to pine with care, nor be dejected with fear, neither to be inflamed with desire, nor dissolved by extravagant joy, such a one is the very wise man we enquire after, the happy man.
[tr. Main (1824)]

Therefore the man, whoever he is, who has quiet of mind, through moderation and constancy, and thus at peace with himself, is neither corroded with cares, nor crippled by fear; and, thirsting for nothing impatiently, is exempt from the fires of desire, and, dizzied by the fumes of no futile felicity, reels with no riotous joy: this is the wise man we seek: this man is happy.
[tr. Otis (1839)]

Whoever, then, through moderation and constancy, is at rest in his mind, and in calm possession of himself, so as neither to pine with care, nor be dejected with fear, nor to be inflamed with desire, coveting something greedily, nor relaxed by extravagant mirth, -- such a man is that identical wise man whom we are inquiring for, he is the happy man.
[tr. Yonge (1853)]

Whoever then has his mind kept in repose by moderation and firmness, and is at peace with himself so that he is neither wasted by troubles nor broken down by fear, nor burns with longing in his thirsty quest of some object of desire, nor flows out in the demonstration of empty joy, is the wise man whom we seek; he is the happy man.
[tr. Peabody (1886)]

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty. To find the best in others; to give one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exaltation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -- this is to have succeeded.

• He Has Achieved Success Who Has Lived Well, Laughed Often and Loved Much – Quote Investigator
• Stanley, Bessie A. - "Success" (1905) | WIST ]]> https://wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/46825/feed/ 1 46825 https://wist.info/peterson-wilferd-a/46809/ https://wist.info/peterson-wilferd-a/46809/#respond Mon, 03 May 2021 16:35:20 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46809 Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.
  
  Wilferd A. Peterson (1900-1995) American writer, magazine editor
  “The Art of Happiness,” This Week Magazine (1961-02-04)
      (Source)
  
  Collected in The Art of Living (1961).
  
  Almost universally credited, without citation, to Theodore Isaac Rubin, but I've been unable to find the phrase in Rubin's works or credited to him earlier than Peterson's essay. ]]> https://wist.info/peterson-wilferd-a/46809/feed/ 0 46809 https://wist.info/schulz-charles/46713/ https://wist.info/schulz-charles/46713/#respond Fri, 23 Apr 2021 22:08:45 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46713 If you are a person who looks at the funny side of things, then sometimes when you are lowest, when everything seems totally hopeless, you will come up with some of your best ideas. Happiness does not create humor. There’s nothing funny about being happy. Sadness creates humor.
  
  Charles Schulz (1922-2000) American cartoonist
  “On Staying Power,” My Life with Charlie Brown (2010) [ed. Inge]
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/schulz-charles/46713/feed/ 0 46713 https://wist.info/aristotle/46508/ https://wist.info/aristotle/46508/#respond Fri, 09 Apr 2021 17:03:11 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46508 Whatever creates or increases happiness or some part of happiness, we ought to do; whatever destroys or hampers happiness, or gives rise to its opposite, we ought not to do.

  [τὰ μὲν γὰρ παρασκευάζοντα ταύτην ἢ τῶν μορίων τι, ἢ μεῖζον ἀντ᾽ ἐλάττονος ποιοῦντα, δεῖ πράττειν, τὰ δὲ φθείροντα ἢ ἐμποδίζοντα ἢ τὰ ἐναντία ποιοῦντα μὴ πράττειν.]

  
  Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
  Rhetoric [Ῥητορική; Ars Rhetorica], Book 1, ch. 5, sec. 2 (1.5.2) / 1360b.11 (350 BC) [tr. Roberts (1924)]
      (Source)
  
  (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:
  
  

  For it behoves us to perform those acts which procure [happiness], or any one of its constituent parts, or which, when it is little, render it greater; but not to perform those which destroy, or obstruct it, or produce its contraries.
  [Source (1847)]

  
  

  We needs do the things which procure [happiness] or any of its constituents, or which render it greater from having been less, and refrain from doing the things which destroy or impede it, or produce its opposites.
  [tr. Buckley (1850)]

  
  

  Since we ought to do those things which tend to create [Happiness] or any one of its parts, or to increase that part; but we ought not do those things which corrupt, or hinder it, or produce its opposite.
  [tr. Jebb (1873)]

  
  

  For one should do the things which procure happiness or one of its parts, or increase instead of diminishing it, and avoid doing those things which destroy or hinder it or bring about what is contrary to it.
  [tr. Freese (1926)]

  
  

  After all, we are bound to act in a way that creates the conditions for happiness or one of its constituents, or at any rate increases rather than diminishes it, and to avoid doing things that destroy or hinder it or have outcomes that oppose it.
  [tr. Waterfield (2018)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/aristotle/46508/feed/ 0 46508 https://wist.info/brilliant-ashleigh/46437/ https://wist.info/brilliant-ashleigh/46437/#respond Fri, 02 Apr 2021 14:55:56 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46437 I too have known joy and sadness, and, on the whole, I prefer joy.
  
  Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
  Pot-Shots, #2053 ]]> https://wist.info/brilliant-ashleigh/46437/feed/ 0 46437 https://wist.info/tawney-r-h/46390/ https://wist.info/tawney-r-h/46390/#respond Tue, 30 Mar 2021 17:50:54 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46390 A society which reverences the attainment of riches as the supreme felicity will naturally be disposed to regard the poor as damned in the next world, if only to justify making their life a hell in this.
  
  R. H. Tawney (1880-1962) English writer, economist, historian, social critic [Richard Henry Tawney]
  Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, ch. 4: The Puritan Movement, sec. 4 “The New Medicine for Poverty” (1926)
      (Source)
  
  Originally delivered as Holland Lectures, Kings College (Feb-Mar 1922). ]]> https://wist.info/tawney-r-h/46390/feed/ 0 46390 https://wist.info/sophocles/46317/ https://wist.info/sophocles/46317/#respond Thu, 25 Mar 2021 21:33:49 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46317 For life without life’s joys
  Is living death; and such a life is his.
  Riches and rank and show of majesty
  And state, where no joy is, are empty, vain
  And unsubstantial shadows, of no weight
  To be compared with happiness of heart.

  [τὰς γὰρ ἡδονὰς
  ὅταν προδῶσιν ἄνδρες, οὐ τίθημ᾽ ἐγὼ
  ζῆν τοῦτον, ἀλλ᾽ ἔμψυχον ἡγοῦμαι νεκρόν.
  πλούτει τε γὰρ κατ᾽ οἶκον, εἰ βούλει, μέγα
  καὶ ζῆ τύραννον σχῆμ᾽ ἔχων: ἐὰν δ᾽ ἀπῇ
  τούτων τὸ χαίρειν, τἄλλ᾽ ἐγὼ καπνοῦ σκιᾶς
  οὐκ ἂν πριαίμην ἀνδρὶ πρὸς τὴν ἡδονήν]

  
  Sophocles (496-406 BC) Greek tragic playwright
  Antigone, l. 1165ff [Messenger] (441 BC) [tr. Watling (1947), Epilogos, l. 977ff]
      (Source)
  
  Original Greek. Alternate translations:
  
  

  For him I reckon but
  An animate corpse, and not a living man,
  Whose life's delights are cast away. Thy house,
  I grant thee, may be richly stored with wealth;
  And thou may'st live in royal pomp: but if
  Joy is not there the while, and I must lose
  All happiness thereby, I would not give
  Smoke's shadow as the price of all the rest.
  [tr. Donaldson (1848)]

  
  

  For a life
  Without life's joys I count a living death.
  You'll tell me he has ample store of wealth,
  The pomp and circumstance of kings; but if
  These give no pleasure, all the rest I count
  The shadow of a shade, nor would I weigh
  His wealth and power 'gainst a dram of joy.
  [tr. Storr (1859)]

  
  

  For when a man is lost to joy,
  I count him not to live, but reckon him
  A living corse. Riches belike are his,
  Great riches and the appearance of a King;
  But if no gladness come to him, all else
  Is shadow of a vapour, weighed with joy.
  [tr. Campbell (1873)]

  
  

  When a man has forfeited his pleasures, I do not reckon his existence as life, but consider him just a breathing corpse. Heap up riches in your house, if you wish! Live with a tyrant's pomp! But if there is no joy along with all of that, I would not pay even the shadow of smoke for all the rest, compared with joy.
  [tr. Jebb (1891)]

  
  

  For when a man hath forfeited his pleasures, I count him not as living, -- I hold him but a breathing corpse. Heap up riches in thy house, if thou wilt; live in kingly state; yet, if there be no gladness therewith, I would not give the shadow of a vapour for all the rest, compared with joy.
  [tr. Jebb (1917)]

  
  

  Who can say
  That a man is still alive when his life’s joy fails?
  He is a walking dead man. Grant him rich,
  Let him live like a king in his great house:
  If his pleasure is gone, I would not give
  So much as the shadow of smoke for all he owns.
  [tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1939), l. 910ff]

  
  

  Yes, when a man has lost all happiness,
  he's not alive. Call him a breathing corpse.
  Be very rich at home. Live as a king.
  But once your joy has gone, though these are left
  they are smoke's shadow to lost happiness.
  [tr. Wyckoff (1954)]

  
  

  He who forfeits joy
  Forfeits his life; he is a breathing corpse.
  Heap treasures in your palace, if you will,
  And wear the pomp of royalty; but if
  You have no happiness, I would not give
  A straw for all of it, compared with joy.
  [tr. Kitto (1962)]

  
  

  Believe me,
  when a man has squandered his true joys,
  he's good as dead, I tell you, a living corpse.
  Pile up riches in your house, as much as you like --
  live like a king with a huge show of pomp,
  but if real delight is missing from the lot,
  I wouldn't give you a wisp of smoke for it,
  not compared to joy. [tr. Fagles (1982), l. 1284ff]

  
  

  When every source of joy deserts a man,
  I don't call him alive: he's an animated corpse.
  For my money, you can get rich as you want,
  You can wear the face of a tyrant,
  But if you have no joy in this,
  Your life's not worth the shadow of a puff of smoke.
  [tr. Woodruff (2001)]

  
  

  Whenever men forfeit their pleasures, I do not regard
  such a man as alive, but I consider him a living corpse.
  Be very wealthy in your household, if you wish, and live
  the style of absolute rulers, but should the enjoyment of these
  depart, what is left, compared to pleasure,
  I would not buy from a man for a shadow of smoke.
  [tr. Tyrell/Bennett (2002)]

  
  

  When a man’s body has lost all sense of joy, you can say he’s not alive any more. He is a living corpse. You can have as much wealth in your house as you like and you can live like a king but when joy is missing then all those other things I wouldn’t exchange for the price of the shadow of smoke -- not against the sweetness of joy!
  [tr. Theodoridis (2004), "Herald"]

  
  

  For when a man has lost
  what gives him pleasure, I don’t include him
  among the living -- he’s a breathing corpse.
  Pile up a massive fortune in your home,
  if that’s what you want -- live like a king.
  If there’s no pleasure in it, I’d not give
  to any man a vapour’s shadow for it,
  not compared to human joy.
  [tr. Johnston (2005), l. 1296ff]

  
  

  But when people lose their pleasures, I do not consider this life -- rather, it is just a corpse with a soul.
  [tr. @sentantiq (2018)]

  ]]> https://wist.info/sophocles/46317/feed/ 0 46317 https://wist.info/sophocles/46188/ https://wist.info/sophocles/46188/#respond Thu, 11 Mar 2021 18:17:05 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=46188 Wisdom is by far the greatest part of joy,
  and reverence toward the gods must be safeguarded.
  The mighty words of the proud are paid in full
  with mighty blows of fate, and at long last
  those blows will teach us wisdom.

  [πολλῷ τὸ φρονεῖν εὐδαιμονίας
  πρῶτον ὑπάρχει. χρὴ δὲ τά γ᾽ εἰς θεοὺς
  μηδὲν ἀσεπτεῖν. μεγάλοι δὲ λόγοι
  μεγάλας πληγὰς τῶν ὑπεραύχων
  ἀποτίσαντες
  γήρᾳ τὸ φρονεῖν ἐδίδαξαν.]

  
  Sophocles (496-406 BC) Greek tragic playwright
  Antigone, l. 1348ff [Chorus] (441 BC) [tr. Fagles (1982), l. 1466ff]
      (Source)
  
  Final lines of the play. Original Greek. Alternate translations:
  
  

  Wisdom is first of the gifts of good fortune:
  'Tis a duty, to be sure, the rites of the Gods
  Duly to honor: but words without measure, the
  Fruit of vain-glory, in woes without number their
  Recompense finding,
  Have lesson'd the agéd in wisdom.
  [tr. Donaldson (1848)]

  
  

  Of happiness the chiefest part
  Is a wise heart:
  And to defraud the gods in aught
  With peril's fraught.
  Swelling words of high-flown might
  Mightily the gods do smite.
  Chastisement for errors past
  Wisdom brings to age at last.
  [tr. Storr (1859)]

  
  

  Wise conduct hath command of happiness
  Before all else, and piety to Heaven
  Must be preserved. High boastings of the proud
  Bring sorrow to the height to punish pride: --
  A lesson men shall learn when they are old.
  [tr. Campbell (1873)]

  
  

  Wisdom is provided as the chief part of happiness, and our dealings with the gods must be in no way unholy. The great words of arrogant men have to make repayment with great blows, and in old age teach wisdom.
  [tr. Jebb (1891)]

  
  

  Wisdom alone is man's true happiness.
  We are not to dispute the will of heaven;
  For ever are the boastings of the proud
  By the just gods repaid, and man at last
  Is taught to fear their anger and be wise.
  [tr. Werner (1892)]

  
  

  Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness; and reverence towards the gods must be inviolate. Great words of prideful men are ever punished with great blows, and, in old age, teach the chastened to be wise.
  [tr. Jebb (1917)]

  
  

  There is no happiness where there is no wisdom;
  No wisdom but in submission to the gods.
  Big words are always punished
  And proud men in old age learn to be wise.
  [tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1939), l. 1039ff]

  
  

  Of happiness the crown
  And chiefest part
  Is wisdom, and to hold
  The gods in awe.
  This is the law
  That, seeing the stricken heart
  Of pride brought down,
  We learn when we are old.
  [tr. Watling (1947), Exodos, l. 1027ff]

  
  

  Our happiness depends
  on wisdom all the way.
  The gods must have their due.
  Great words by men of pride
  bring greater blows upon them.
  So wisdom comes to the old.
  [tr. Wyckoff (1954)]

  
  

  Of happiness, far the greatest part is wisdom,
  and reverence towards the gods.
  Proud words of arrogant man, in the end,
  Meet punishment, great as his pride was great,
  Till at last he is schooled in wisdom.
  [tr. Kitto (1962)]

  
  

  Wisdom is supreme for a blessed life,
  And reference for the gods
  Must never cease. Great words, sprung from arrogance.
  Are punished by great blows.
  So it is one learns, in old age, to be wise.
  [tr. Woodruff (2001)]

  
  

  By far is having sense the first part
  of happiness. One must not act impiously toward
  what pertains to gods. Big words
  of boasting men,
  paid for by big blows,
  teach having sense in old age.
  [tr. Tyrell/Bennett (2002)]

  
  

  The most important thing in man’s happiness is good judgement and he must not treat with disdain the works of the gods.
  The arrogant pay for their big proud words with great downfalls and it’s only then, in their old age that they gain wisdom!
  [tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

  
  

  The most important part of true success
  is wisdom -- not to act impiously
  towards the gods, for boasts of arrogant men
  bring on great blows of punishment --
  so in old age men can discover wisdom.
  [tr. Johnston (2005)]

  
  

  Knowledge truly is by far the most important part of happiness, but one must neglect nothing that the gods demand. Great words of the over-proud balanced by great falls taught us knowledge in our old age.
  [tr. Thomas (2005)]

  ]]> https://wist.info/sophocles/46188/feed/ 0 46188 https://wist.info/cicero-marcus-tullius/44905/ https://wist.info/cicero-marcus-tullius/44905/#respond Mon, 04 Jan 2021 18:35:47 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=44905 Above all, the search after truth and its eager pursuit are peculiar to man. And so, when we have leisure from the demands of business cares, we are eager to see, to hear, to learn something new, and we esteem a desire to know the secrets or wonders of creation as indispensable to a happy life. Thus we come to understand that what is true, simple, and genuine appeals most strongly to a man’s nature.

  [In primisque hominis est propria veri inquisitio atque investigatio. Itaque cum sumus necessariis negotiis curisque vacui, tum avemus aliquid videre, audire, addiscere cognitionemque rerum aut occultarum aut admirabilium ad beate vivendum necessarian! ducimus. Ex quo intellegitur, quod verum, simplex sincerumque sit, id esse naturae hominis aptissimum.]

  
  Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
  De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 1, ch. 4 (1.4) / sec. 13 (44 BC) [tr. Miller (1913)]
      (Source)
  
  Original Latin. Alt. trans.:
  
  

  But of all the properties and inclinations of men, there is none more natural and peculiar to them than an earnest desire and search after truth. Hence it is that our minds are no sooner free from the thoughts and engagements of necessary business, but we presently long to be either seeing, or hearing, or learning of something; and esteem the knowledge of things secret and wonderful as a necessary ingredient of a happy life. Whence it appears that nothing is more agreeable and suited to the nature and minds of men than undisguised openness, truth, and sincerity.
  [tr. Cockman (1699)]

  
  

  The desire and investigation of truth is proper to man. When disengaged from necessary business and cares, we are eager to add to our knowledge by examining for ourselves or listening to others. The discovery of what is secret or wonderful, we are disposed to conceive essential to happiness. Hence, what is true, simple, and undisguised, is best adapted to human nature.
  [tr. McCartney (1798)]

  
  

  Before all other things, man is distinguished by his pursuit and investigation of TRUTH. And hence, when free from needful business and cares, we delight to see, to hear, and to communicate, and consider a knowledge of many admirable and abstruse things necessary to the good conduct and happiness of our lives: whence it is clear that whatsoever is TRUE, simple, and direct, the same is most congenial to our nature as men.
  [In John Frederick William Herschel, A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, Epigraph (1830)]

  
  

  The distinguishing property of man is to search for and to follow after truth. Therefore, when relaxed from our necessary cares and concerns, we then covet to see, to hear, and to learn somewhat; and we esteem knowledge of things either obscure or wonderful to be the indispensable means of living happily. From this we understand that truth, simplicity, and candour, are most agreeable to the nature of mankind.
  [tr. Edmonds (1865)]

  
  

  The research and investigation of truth, also, are a special property of man. Thus, when we are free from necessary occupations, we want to see, or hear, or learn something, and regard the knowledge of things either secret or wonderful as essential to our living happily and well.
  [tr. Peabody (1883)]

  
  

  The distinctive faculty of man is his eager desire to investigate the truth. Thus, when free from pressing duties and cares, we are eager to see or hear, or learn something new, and we think our happiness is incomplete unless we study the mysteries and the marvels of the universe.
  [tr. Gardiner (1899)]

  
  

  The first duty of man is the seeking after and the investigation of truth.
  [ed. Harbottle (1906)

  
  

  Inquiry into and searching for truth are primary characteristics of mankind. So when we are free from business obligations and other preoccupations, we become eager to see something new, to hear and learn something; we begin to think that knowledge about the mysteries and wonders of the world is necessary to a happy life.
  [tr. Edinger (1974)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/cicero-marcus-tullius/44905/feed/ 0 44905 https://wist.info/chapin-edwin-hubbel/43495/ https://wist.info/chapin-edwin-hubbel/43495/#respond Fri, 02 Oct 2020 15:26:04 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=43495 There is no happiness in life, there is no misery, like that growing out of the dispositions which consecrate or desecrate a home.
  
  Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814-1880) American clergyman
  Living Words (1860)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/chapin-edwin-hubbel/43495/feed/ 0 43495 https://wist.info/kafka-franz/43474/ https://wist.info/kafka-franz/43474/#respond Wed, 30 Sep 2020 19:44:16 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=43474 Youth is full of sunshine and life. Youth is happy, because it has the ability to see beauty. When this ability is lost, wretched old age begins, decay, unhappiness. […] Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
  
  Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer
  In Gustav Janouch, Conversations with Kafka (1951; 1971 ed.) ]]> https://wist.info/kafka-franz/43474/feed/ 0 43474 https://wist.info/brault-robert-b/43352/ https://wist.info/brault-robert-b/43352/#respond Tue, 22 Sep 2020 14:31:08 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=43352 Everything we possess that is not necessary for life or happiness becomes a burden, and scarcely a day passes that we do not add to it.
  
  Robert Brault (b. c. 1945) American aphorist, programmer
  (Attributed) ]]> https://wist.info/brault-robert-b/43352/feed/ 0 43352 https://wist.info/wordsworth-william/43284/ https://wist.info/wordsworth-william/43284/#respond Wed, 16 Sep 2020 19:55:08 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=43284 Dreams, books, are each a world; and books we know,
  Are a substantial world, both pure and good:
  Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,
  Our pastime and our happiness will grow.
  
  William Wordsworth (1770-1850) English poet
  “Personal Talk,” st. 3 (1846)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/wordsworth-william/43284/feed/ 0 43284 https://wist.info/frye-northrop/42994/ https://wist.info/frye-northrop/42994/#respond Wed, 26 Aug 2020 20:52:09 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=42994 Beauty, like truth and goodness, is a quality that may in one sense be predicated of all great art, but the deliberate attempt to beautify can, in itself, only weaken the creative energy. Beauty in art is like happiness in morals: it may accompany the act, but it cannot be the goal of the act, just as one cannot “pursue happiness,” but only something else that may give happiness.
  
  Northrop Frye (1912-1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist
  Anatomy of Criticism, “Mythical Phase: Symbol as Archetype” (1957)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/frye-northrop/42994/feed/ 0 42994 https://wist.info/brault-robert-b/42925/ https://wist.info/brault-robert-b/42925/#respond Tue, 18 Aug 2020 14:50:30 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=42925 To find someone who will love you for no reason, and to shower that person with reasons, that is the ultimate happiness.
  
  Robert Brault (b. c. 1945) American aphorist, programmer
  (Attributed) ]]> https://wist.info/brault-robert-b/42925/feed/ 0 42925 https://wist.info/inge-william-ralph/42701/ https://wist.info/inge-william-ralph/42701/#respond Mon, 27 Jul 2020 17:45:15 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=42701 He who tries to be holy in order to be happy will assuredly be neither.
  
  William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge]
  Christian Mysticism, Lecture 1 (1899)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/inge-william-ralph/42701/feed/ 0 42701 https://wist.info/parker-dorothy/42133/ https://wist.info/parker-dorothy/42133/#respond Mon, 15 Jun 2020 21:49:02 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=42133 If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.
  
  Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) American writer, poet, wit
  “Book Reviews,” Esquire (1 Nov 1959)
      (Source)
  
  Review of William Strunk Jr and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, revised edition. ]]> https://wist.info/parker-dorothy/42133/feed/ 0 42133 https://wist.info/levant-oscar/41895/ https://wist.info/levant-oscar/41895/#respond Thu, 28 May 2020 21:03:06 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41895 Happiness isn’t something you experience; it’s something you remember.
  
  Oscar Levant (1906-1972) American pianist, composer, actor, wit
  (Attributed) ]]> https://wist.info/levant-oscar/41895/feed/ 0 41895 https://wist.info/aristophanes/41807/ https://wist.info/aristophanes/41807/#respond Wed, 20 May 2020 15:47:15 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41807 DEMOSTHENES: And dare you rail at wine’s inventiveness?
  I tell you nothing has such go as wine.
  Why, look you now; ’tis when men drink, they thrive,
  Grow wealthy, speed their business, win their suits,
  Make themselves happy, benefit their friends.
  Go, fetch me out a stoup of wine, and let me
  Moisten my wits, and utter something bright.
  
  Aristophanes (c. 450-c. 388 BC) Athenian comedic playwright
  Knights, ll. 90-96 [tr. Rogers (1924)]
      (Source)
  
  Alt. trans.
  • [O'Neill (1938)]: "Do you dare to accuse wine of clouding the reason? Quote me more marvellous effects than those of wine. Look! when a man drinks, he is rich, everything he touches succeeds, he gains lawsuits, is happy and helps his friends. Come, bring hither quick a flagon of wine, that I may soak my brain and get an ingenious idea."
  • [Hickie (1853)]: "Have you the audacity to abuse wine for witlessness? Can you find anything more business-like than wine? Do you see? when men drink, then they are rich, they transact business, gain causes, are happy, assist their friends. Come, bring me out quickly a stoup of wine, that I may moisten my intellect, and say something clever."
  ]]> https://wist.info/aristophanes/41807/feed/ 0 41807 https://wist.info/pratchett-terry/41386/ https://wist.info/pratchett-terry/41386/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2020 16:22:36 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41386 If you said to a bunch of average people two hundred years ago “Would you be happy in a world where medical care is widely available, houses are clean, the world’s music and sights and foods can be brought into your home at small cost, travelling even 100 miles is easy, childbirth is generally not fatal to mother or child, you don’t have to die of dental abcesses and you don’t have to do what the squire tells you” they’d think you were talking about the New Jerusalem and say ‘yes’.
  
  Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
  (Attributed)
  
  Usually cited to alt.fan.pratchett, but not found in the repository. ]]> https://wist.info/pratchett-terry/41386/feed/ 0 41386 https://wist.info/gershwin-ira/41347/ https://wist.info/gershwin-ira/41347/#respond Tue, 14 Apr 2020 19:48:53 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41347 I got rhythm, I got music,
  I got my man
  Who could ask for anything more?
  
  Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) American lyricist [b. Israel Gershowitz]
  “I Got Rhythm”, Girl Crazy, Act 1 (1930)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/gershwin-ira/41347/feed/ 0 41347 https://wist.info/oliver-mary/41189/ https://wist.info/oliver-mary/41189/#respond Tue, 31 Mar 2020 19:53:33 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41189 But also I say this: that light
  is an invitation
  to happiness,
  and that happiness,
  when it’s done right,
  is a kind of holiness,
  palpable and redemptive.
  
  Mary Oliver (1935-2019) American poet
  “Poppies,” Blue Iris (2004)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/oliver-mary/41189/feed/ 0 41189 https://wist.info/aristotle/40570/ https://wist.info/aristotle/40570/#respond Mon, 10 Feb 2020 17:56:06 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=40570 Nevertheless even here, when a man bears patiently a number of heavy disasters, not because he does not feel them but because he has a high and generous nature, his nobility shines through. And if, as we said, the quality of a life is determined by its activities, no man who is truly happy can become miserable; because he will never do things that are hateful and mean.

  [ὅμως δὲ καὶ ἐν τούτοις διαλάμπει τὸ καλόν, ἐπειδὰν φέρῃ τις εὐκόλως πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας ἀτυχίας, μὴ δι᾽ ἀναλγησίαν, ἀλλὰ γεννάδας ὢν καὶ μεγαλόψυχος. εἰ δ᾽ εἰσὶν αἱ ἐνέργειαι κύριαι τῆς ζωῆς, καθάπερ εἴπομεν, οὐδεὶς ἂν γένοιτο τῶν μακαρίων ἄθλιος: οὐδέποτε γὰρ πράξει τὰ μισητὰ καὶ τὰ φαῦλα.]

  
  Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
  Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 1, ch. 11 (1.11) / 1100b.30-35 (c. 325 BC) [tr. Thomson/Tredennick (1976)]
      (Source)
  
  (Source (Greek))
  
  Often highly paraphrased: "Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind."
  
  Alternate translations:
  
  

  But nevertheless, even in these, nobility of the soul is conspicuous, when a man bears and digests many and great misfortunes, not from insensibility, but because he is high spirited and magnanimous. But if the energies are the things that constitute the bliss or the misery of life, as we said, no happy man can ever become miserable, for he will never do hateful and worthless actions.
  [tr. Vincent (1835)]

  
  

  But still, even in these, nobleness shines through when a man bears contentedly many and great mischances not from insensibility to pain but because he is noble and high-spirited. And if, as we have said, the acts of working are what determine the character of the life, no one of the blessed can ever become wretched, because he will never do those things which are hateful and mean.
  [tr. Chase (1847)]

  
  

  But nevertheless even here true nobility sines out, when a man bears calmly man and great mishaps, not through dullness of feeling, but from true high-breeding, and greatness of spirit. And since, as we have said, it is our own acts that determine our life, no one of the really blessed can ever become wretched, for he will never do hateful and disgraceful deeds.
  [tr. Williams (1869), sec. 17]

  
  

  Still even in these circumstances nobility shines out, when a person bears the weight of accumulated misfortunes with calmness, not from insensibility but from innate dignity and magnanimity. But if it is the activities which determine the life, as we said, nobody who is fortunate can become miserable; for he will never do what is hateful and mean.
  [tr. Welldon (1892)]

  
  

  But nevertheless true worth shines out even here, in the calm endurance of many great misfortunes, not through insensibility, but through nobility and greatness of soul. And if it is what a man does that determines the character of his life, as we said, then no happy man will become miserable; for he will never do what is hateful and base. [tr. Peters (1893), 1.10.13]

  
  

  Nevertheless even under these the force of nobility shines out, when a man bears calmly many great disasters, not from insensibility, but because he is generous and of a great soul. Setting happiness then, as we do, not in the outward surroundings of man, but in his inward state, we may fairly say that no one who has attained to the bliss of virtue will ever justly become an object of pity or contempt: for he will never do things that are hateful and vile.
  [tr. Stock (1897)]

  
  

  Yet even in these nobility shines through, when a man bears with resignation many great misfortunes, not through insensibility to pain but through nobility and greatness of soul. If activities are, as we said, what gives life its character, no happy man can become miserable; for he will never do the acts that are hateful and mean.
  [tr. Ross (1908), 1.10]

  
  

  Yet nevertheless even in adversity nobility shines through, when a man endures repeated and severe misfortune with patience, not owing to insensibility but from generosity and greatness of soul. And if, as we said, a man's life is determined by his activities, no supremely happy man can ever become miserable. For he will never do hateful or base actions.
  [tr. Rackham (1934), 1.10.12-13]

  
  

  All the same, even in these cases nobility shines through when someone calmly bears repeated strokes of great bad luck -- not because he is insensitive to suffering but because of being well bred and great-souled. And if it is activities that control living, as we said, no blessed person will ever become wretched, since he will never do hateful or base actions.
  [tr. Reeve (1948)]

  
  

  The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper. Besides, if it be true, as I affirmed, that the quality of life is determined by its activities, it is impossible for the entirely happy man to become miserable. For he will never be guilty of base or detestable actions.
  [tr. Thomson (1953)]

  
  

  Yet nobility shines out even there, when a man bears many and great misfortunes with calm and ease, not through insensibility to pain, but through nobility of character and highmindedness. Thus if it is the activities that play a dominant role in life, as we have said, no blessed man can become wretched; for he will never do what is hateful or bad.
  [tr. Apostle (1975)]

  
  

  And yet, even here, what is fine shines through, whenever someone bears many severe misfortunes with good temper, not because he feels no distress, but because he is noble and magnanimous. And since it is activities that control life, as we said, no blessed person could ever become miserable, since he will never do hateful and base actions.
  [tr. Irwin/Fine (1995)]

  
  

  What is noble shines through, when a person calmly bears many great misfortunes, not through insensibility, but by being well bred and great-souled. If activities are, as we have said, what really matter in life, no one blessed could become wretched, since he will never do hateful and petty actions.
  [tr. Crisp (2000)]

  
  

  Nevertheless, even in the midst of these, nobility shines through, whenever someone bears up calmly under many great misfortunes, not because of any insensitivity to pain but because he is wellbore and great souled. And if the activities have authoritative control over life, just as we said, then no one who is blessed would become wretched, since he will never do things that are hateful and base.
  [tr. Bartlett/Collins (2011)]

  
  

  Still, nobility shines bright even in tough times, when someone bears even many severe misfortunes patiently, not because they cannot sense them, but because of their unselfishness and greatness of spirit. If the actions one takes rules their life -- as we just said -- then none of the happy people can ever be miserable.
  [tr. @sentantiq (2020)]

  
  

  But all the same, even in these instances, nobility shines through whenever someone good-naturedly bears a multitude of great misfortunes, and does so not because he's numb to pain, but because he's noble and great-souled.
  [tr. Benn (2021)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/aristotle/40570/feed/ 0 40570 https://wist.info/aristotle/40482/ https://wist.info/aristotle/40482/#respond Mon, 03 Feb 2020 17:17:30 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=40482 For one swallow does not make spring, nor does one fine day; and similarly one day or a brief period of happiness does not make a man supremely blessed and happy.

  [μία γὰρ χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ, οὐδὲ μία ἡμέρα: οὕτω δὲ οὐδὲ μακάριον καὶ εὐδαίμονα]

  
  Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
  Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 1, ch. 7 (1.7, 1098a.18) (c. 325 BC) [tr. Rackham (1934)]
      (Source)
  
  Rackham notes that μακάριος ("blessed"/"happy") derives from μάκαρ, applied in Homer and Hesiod to the gods, and to humans admitted to the Islands of the Blessed. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:
  
  

  For as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.
  [tr. Chase (1847)]

  
  

  For a single day, or even a short period of happiness, no more makes a blessed and a happy man than one sunny day or one swallow makes a spring.
  [tr. Williams (1869)]

  
  

  For as one swallow or one day does not make a spring, so one day or a short time does not make a fortunate or happy man.
  [tr. Welldon (1892), ch. 6]

  
  

  For one swallow or one fine day does not make a spring, nor does one day or any small space of time make a blessed or happy man.
  [tr. Peters (1893), 1.7.16]

  
  

  For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.
  [tr. Ross (1908)]

  
  

  For one swallow does not make a spring, nor does one day. Nor, similarly, does one day or a short time make someone blessed and happy.
  [tr. Reeve (1948)]

  
  

  One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one fine day. And one day, or indeed any brief period of felicity, does not make a man entirely and perfectly happy.
  [tr. Thomson (1953)]

  
  

  For one swallow does not make a spring, nor does one day; and so too one day or a short time does not make a man blessed or happy.
  [tr. Apostle (1975)]

  
  

  One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy.
  [tr. Thomson/Tredennick (1976)]

  
  

  For one swallow does not make a summer, nor one day. Neither does one day or a short time make someone blessed and happy.
  [tr. Crisp (2000)]

  
  

  For one swallow does not make a spring, nor does one day. And in this way, one day or a short time does not make someone blessed and happy either.
  [tr. Bartlett/Collins (2011)]

  
  

  For one swallow does not make a spring, nor does one day. Nor, similarly, does one day or a short time make someone blessed and happy.
  [tr. Reeve (2014)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/aristotle/40482/feed/ 0 40482 https://wist.info/dickens-charles/39852/ https://wist.info/dickens-charles/39852/#respond Tue, 17 Dec 2019 01:36:57 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=39852 “Christmas a humbug, uncle!” said Scrooge’s nephew. “You don’t mean that, I am sure.”

  “I do,” said Scrooge. “Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.”

  “Come, then,” returned the nephew gaily. “What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.”

  Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said “Bah!” again; and followed it up with “Humbug.”

  
  Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
  A Christmas Carol, ch. 1 (1843)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/dickens-charles/39852/feed/ 0 39852 https://wist.info/martial/38766/ https://wist.info/martial/38766/#respond Wed, 08 Aug 2018 20:08:01 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38766 A good man can expand his life: he lives
  twice over whose past life can be enjoyed.

  [Ampliat ætatis spatium sibi vir bonus. Hoc est
  Vivere bis, vita posse priore frui.]

  
  Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
  Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 10, epigram 23 (10.23.8-9) (AD 95, 98 ed.) [tr. McLean (2014)]
  
  "To Antonius Primus." (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:
  
  

  Thus good men to themselves long life can give,
  T' enjoy our former life is twice to live.
  [tr. May (1629)]

  
  

  Each must, in vertue, strive for to excell;
  That man lives twice, that lives the first life well.
  [tr. Herrick (1648)]

  
  

  He liveth twice, who can the Gift retain
  Of Mem'ry, to enjoy past Life again.
  [tr. Cotton (1685)]

  
  

  Thus a good man prolongs his mortal date;
  Lives twice, enjoying thus his former slate.
  [tr. Hay (1755)]

  
  

  For he lives twice who can at once employ
  The present well, and e'en the past enjoy.
  [tr. Pope (1713)]

  
  

  They stretch the limits of this narrow span;
  And, by enjoying, live past life again.
  [tr. Lewis (1750)]

  
  

  A good man amplifies the span of his existence ; for this is to live twice, to be able to find enjoyment in past life.
  [tr. Amos (1858); he gives several other contemporary uses and translations.]

  
  

  A good man lengthens his term of existence; to be able to enjoy our past life is to live twice.
  [tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

  
  

  So good men lengthen life; and to recall
  The past, is to have twice enjoyed it all.
  [tr. Stevenson (c. 1883)]

  
  

  The good man prolongs his life; to be able to enjoy one's past life is to live twice.
  [Bartlett's (1891)]

  
  

  A good man has a double span of life,
  For to enjoy past life is twice to live.
  [ed. Harbottle (1897)]

  
  

  A good man widens for himself his age's span; he lives twice who can find delight in life bygone.
  [tr. Ker (1919)]

  
  

  Redoubled happiness and life hath he
  Whose joy doth live again in memory.
  [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]

  
  

  The good man lengthens out his earthly skein,
  For living in the past is life again.
  [tr. Francis & Tatum (1924), #525]

  
  

  A good man's life is doubly long,
  For he lives twice who, day and night,
  Can in his whole past take delight.
  [tr. Marcellino (1968)]

  
  

  Virtue extends our days: he lives two lives who relives his past with pleasure.
  [Bartlett's (1968)]

  
  

  A good man enlarges for himself his span of life. To be able to enjoy former life is to live twice over.
  [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

  
  

  The good man has no ugly past he would forget,
  So memory gives him doubled life without regret.
  [tr. Ericsson (1995)]

  
  

  He does not deplore life's brevity.
  For virtue is itself longevity.
  [tr. Wills (2007)]

  
  

  When I remember,
  success, failure,
  friend, enemy,
  wife, lover
  I live twice over.
  [tr. Kennelly (2008), "Living"]

  
  

  A good man can expand his life: he lives
  twice over whose past life can be enjoyed.
  [tr. McLean (2014)]

  
  

  The good man broadens for himself the span of his years: to be able to enjoy the life you have spent, is to live it twice.
  [tr. Nisbet (2015)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/martial/38766/feed/ 0 38766 https://wist.info/brown-rita-mae/38665/ https://wist.info/brown-rita-mae/38665/#respond Mon, 14 May 2018 18:54:54 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38665 One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.
  
  Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
  (Attributed) ]]> https://wist.info/brown-rita-mae/38665/feed/ 0 38665 https://wist.info/martial/38529/ https://wist.info/martial/38529/#respond Wed, 04 Apr 2018 17:00:11 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38529 Life is not living, but living in health.

  [Vita non est vivere, sed valere vita est.]

  
  Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
  Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 6, epigram 70 (6.70.15) (AD 91) [tr. Ker (1919)]
      (Source)
  
  (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:
  
  

  It is not life to live, but to be well.
  [tr. Burton (1621)]

  
  

  Not all who live long, but happily, are old.
  [tr. Killigrew (1695)]

  
  

  For sense and reason tell,
  That life is only life, when we are well.
  [tr. Hay (1755)]

  
  

  For life is not to live, but to be well.
  [tr. Johnson, in The Rambler, #48, cited to Elphinston (1 Sep 1750)]

  
  

  To brethe can just not dying give:
  But, to be well, must be to live.
  [tr. Elphinston (1782), 2.115]

  
  

  For life is not simply living, but living in health.
  [tr. Amos (1858)]

  
  

  Life consists not in living, but in enjoying health.
  [tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

  
  

  It is not life to live, but to be well.
  [ed. Harbottle (1897)]

  
  

  The blunderer who deems them so,
  Misreckons life and much mistakes it,
  He thinks 'tis drawing breath -- we know
  'Tis health alone that mars or makes it.
  [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]

  
  

  Life is not life, but health is life indeed.
  [tr. Francis & Tatum (1924), #310]

  
  

  To live is not just life, but health.
  [tr. Shepherd (1987)]

  
  

  Life is not being alive, but being well.
  [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/martial/38529/feed/ 0 38529 https://wist.info/swetchine-anne-sophie/38340/ https://wist.info/swetchine-anne-sophie/38340/#respond Wed, 13 Dec 2017 00:39:52 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38340 How easy it is to be amiable in the midst of happiness and success!
  
  Anne Sophie Swetchine (1782-1857) Russian-French author and salonist [Madame Swetchine]
  Life and Letters of Madam Swetchine, ch. 5 [8th ed., 1875] (ed. de Falloux; tr. Preston]
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/swetchine-anne-sophie/38340/feed/ 0 38340 https://wist.info/fitzgerald-edward/37852/ https://wist.info/fitzgerald-edward/37852/#respond Mon, 28 Aug 2017 23:48:48 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=37852 I am all for the short and merry life.
  
  Edward FitzGerald (1809-1883) English writer, poet, translator
  Letter to Frederick Tennyson (31 Dec 1850)
      (Source)
  
  Later his epitaph. ]]> https://wist.info/fitzgerald-edward/37852/feed/ 0 37852 https://wist.info/burns-george/37835/ https://wist.info/burns-george/37835/#respond Sat, 26 Aug 2017 22:38:47 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=37835 A good martini, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman … or a bad woman, depending on how much happiness you can stand.
  
  George Burns (1896-1996) American comedian
  Dr. Burns’ Prescription for Happiness, “Nine Definitions of Happiness” (1984)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/burns-george/37835/feed/ 0 37835 https://wist.info/kennedy-florynce/37784/ https://wist.info/kennedy-florynce/37784/#respond Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:46:31 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=37784 You’ve got to rattle your cage door. You’ve got to let them know that you’re in there, and that you want out. Make noise. Cause trouble. You may not win right away, but you’ll sure have a lot more fun.
  
  Florynce "Flo" Kennedy (1916-2000) American lawyer, feminist, civil rights activist
  (Attributed)
      (Source)
  
  Quoted in Gloria Steinem, "The Verbal Karate of Florynce R. Kennedy, Esq.," Ms. (Mar 1973). ]]> https://wist.info/kennedy-florynce/37784/feed/ 0 37784 https://wist.info/de-stael-germaine/37786/ https://wist.info/de-stael-germaine/37786/#respond Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:46:03 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=37786 I believe that happiness consists in having a destiny in keeping with our abilities. Our desires are things of the moment, often harmful even to ourselves; but our abilities are permanent, and their demands never cease.
  
  Germaine de Staël (1766-1817) Swiss-French writer, woman of letters, critic, salonist [Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein, Madame de Staël, Madame Necker]
  Reflections on Suicide (1813)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/de-stael-germaine/37786/feed/ 0 37786 https://wist.info/palahniuk-chuck/37097/ https://wist.info/palahniuk-chuck/37097/#respond Mon, 29 May 2017 18:54:23 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=37097 It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.

  

  
  Chuck Palahniuk (b. 1962) American novelist and freelance journalist
  Diary (2003) ]]> https://wist.info/palahniuk-chuck/37097/feed/ 0 37097 https://wist.info/twain-mark/36639/ https://wist.info/twain-mark/36639/#respond Thu, 30 Mar 2017 19:51:39 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=36639 You see, happiness ain’t a thing in itself — it’s only a contrast with something that ain’t pleasant. That’s all it is. There ain’t a thing you can mention that is happiness in its own self — it’s only so by contrast with the other thing. And so, as soon as the novelty is over and the force of the contrast dulled, it ain’t happiness any longer, and you have to get something fresh.

  

  
  Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
  Story (1868?), “Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven,” Part 1, Harper’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 116, No. 691 (1907-12)
      (Source)
  
  Sam Bartlett to the narrator about why there is pain and suffering in Heaven (so that there can be happiness as a contrast).
  
  First published in book form in 1909. More about the writing and publishing history here. ]]> https://wist.info/twain-mark/36639/feed/ 0 36639 https://wist.info/louis-xiv/36415/ https://wist.info/louis-xiv/36415/#comments Mon, 27 Feb 2017 16:13:03 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=36415 If a civil word or two will render a man happy, he must be a wretch indeed who will not give them to him.

  

  
  Louis XIV (1638-1715) French monarch (1643-1715) [Louis the Great, the Sun King)
  (Attributed)
      (Source)
  
  Quoted in William Seward, Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons, Vol 4, 5th ed. (1804). ]]> https://wist.info/louis-xiv/36415/feed/ 1 36415 https://wist.info/bronte-anne/36240/ https://wist.info/bronte-anne/36240/#respond Thu, 09 Feb 2017 21:00:23 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=36240 No one can be happy in eternal solitude.
  
  Anne Brontë (1820-1849) British novelist, poet [pseud. Acton Bell]
  The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, ch. 7 “The Excursion” [Helen] (1848)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/bronte-anne/36240/feed/ 0 36240 https://wist.info/adams-john/36226/ https://wist.info/adams-john/36226/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2017 18:52:11 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=36226 We ought to consider, what is the end of government, before we determine which is the best form. Upon this point all speculative politicians will agree, that the happiness of society is the end of government, as all Divines and moral Philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man. From this principle it will follow, that the form of government, which communicates ease, comfort, security, or in one word happiness to the greatest number of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best.
  
  John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
  Letter (1776-04) to George Wythe, “Thoughts on Government”
      (Source)
  
  This is taken from the printed edition of the influential essay, believed to be from the version Adams sent to George Wythe of Virginia. ]]> https://wist.info/adams-john/36226/feed/ 1 36226 https://wist.info/kierkegaard-soren/35908/ https://wist.info/kierkegaard-soren/35908/#respond Thu, 05 Jan 2017 01:43:39 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=35908 Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.

  

  
  Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
  Either/Or, Vol. 1 “Diapsalmata” (1843) [tr. Swenson (1959)] ]]> https://wist.info/kierkegaard-soren/35908/feed/ 0 35908 https://wist.info/johnson-samuel/35246/ https://wist.info/johnson-samuel/35246/#respond Fri, 30 Sep 2016 00:25:36 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=35246 He who has so little knowledge of human nature, as to seek happiness by changing any thing but his own dispositions, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which he purposes to remove.
  
  Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
  The Rambler, #6 (7 Apr 1750)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/johnson-samuel/35246/feed/ 0 35246 https://wist.info/gibran-kahlil/35205/ https://wist.info/gibran-kahlil/35205/#respond Mon, 26 Sep 2016 23:49:12 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=35205 We choose our joys and our sorrows long before we experience them.
  
  Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
  Sand and Foam (1926) ]]> https://wist.info/gibran-kahlil/35205/feed/ 0 35205 https://wist.info/buxton-charles/35002/ https://wist.info/buxton-charles/35002/#respond Wed, 07 Sep 2016 01:39:35 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=35002 The first duty towards children is to make them happy. If you have not made them happy, you have wronged them. No other good they may get can make up for that.
  
  Charles Buxton (1823-1871) English brewer, philanthropist, writer, politician
  Notes of Thought (1873) ]]> https://wist.info/buxton-charles/35002/feed/ 0 35002 https://wist.info/brockenbrough-martha/34816/ https://wist.info/brockenbrough-martha/34816/#respond Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:27:06 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=34816 Maybe this is the chief thing the dog knows better than we do. There isn’t enough time in life to do anything but love and do our work with joy. We should sleep when we’re tired. Run with abandon. Always be happy to see each other. And never stop believing we will, someday, catch the squirrel.
  
  Martha Brockenbrough (b. 1970) American writer
  Facebook (9 Aug 2016)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/brockenbrough-martha/34816/feed/ 0 34816 https://wist.info/twain-mark/34783/ https://wist.info/twain-mark/34783/#respond Wed, 17 Aug 2016 00:39:40 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=34783 The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up.

  

  
  Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
  Note (1896-11-26), Mark Twain’s Notebook, ch. 27 “England” (1935) [ed. Albert Bigelow Paine]
      (Source)
  
  Written while in Guilford, England, shortly after the death of his daughter Susy in America.
  
  Often given as "The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up." More discussion here. ]]> https://wist.info/twain-mark/34783/feed/ 0 34783 https://wist.info/gervais-ricky/34742/ https://wist.info/gervais-ricky/34742/#respond Fri, 12 Aug 2016 02:16:49 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=34742 And remember, your critics want you to be as unhappy, unfulfilled and unimportant as they are. Let your happiness eat them up from inside.
  
  Ricky Gervais (b. 1961) English comedian, actor, director, writer
  Twitter (15 Nov 2011)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/gervais-ricky/34742/feed/ 0 34742 https://wist.info/corless-roger/34444/ https://wist.info/corless-roger/34444/#respond Mon, 11 Jul 2016 16:24:32 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=34444 We make ourselves miserable by first closing ourselves off from reality and then collecting this and that in an attempt to make ourselves happy by possessing happiness. But happiness is not something I have, it is something I myself want to be. Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over my body.

  

  
  Roger J. Corless (1938–2007) Anglo-American religious academic, Buddhist scholar, ecumenicist
  The Vision of Buddhism: the Space under the Tree, Part 2 “The Space” (1989)
      (Source)
  
  Frequently misattributed to George Carlin (with "all over your body"). ]]> https://wist.info/corless-roger/34444/feed/ 0 34444 https://wist.info/winfrey-oprah/33639/ https://wist.info/winfrey-oprah/33639/#respond Fri, 13 May 2016 20:20:34 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=33639 I live my life in celebration and in praise of the life I’m living. What you focus on expands. The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. The more you complain, the more you find fault, the more misery and fault you will have to find.
  
  Oprah Winfrey (b. 1954) American TV personality, actress
  “Words of the Week,” Jet (27 Oct 1986)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/winfrey-oprah/33639/feed/ 0 33639 https://wist.info/dryden-john/33606/ https://wist.info/dryden-john/33606/#respond Wed, 11 May 2016 13:44:29 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=33606 Happy the man, and happy he alone,
  He, who can call to-day his own:
  He who, secure within, can say,
  Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
  
  John Dryden (1631-1700) English poet, dramatist, critic
  Imitation of Horace, Book 3, ode 29, l. 65 (1685) ]]> https://wist.info/dryden-john/33606/feed/ 0 33606 https://wist.info/schweitzer-albert/33515/ https://wist.info/schweitzer-albert/33515/#respond Tue, 03 May 2016 20:34:50 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=33515 There are two means of refuge from the misery of life: music and cats.

  [Zweierlei eignet sich als Zuflucht vor den Widrigkeiten des Lebens: Musik und Katzen.]

  

  
  Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Alsatian philosopher, physician, philanthropist, polymath
  (Attributed)
  
  Widely attributed to Schweitzer, but no original source found. ]]> https://wist.info/schweitzer-albert/33515/feed/ 0 33515 https://wist.info/verne-jules/33396/ https://wist.info/verne-jules/33396/#respond Fri, 22 Apr 2016 18:46:10 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=33396 Phileas Fogg had won his wager, and had made his journey around the world in eighty days. To do this he had employed every means of conveyance — steamers, railways, carriages, yachts, trading-vessels, sledges, elephants. The eccentric gentleman had throughout displayed all his marvellous qualities of coolness and exactitude. But what then? What had he really gained by all this trouble? What had he brought back from this long and weary journey?

  Nothing, say you? Perhaps so; nothing but a charming woman, who, strange as it may appear, made him the happiest of men!

  Truly, would you not for less than that make the tour around the world?

  [Phileas Fogg avait gagné son pari. Il avait accompli en quatre-vingts jours ce voyage autour du monde! Il avait employé pour ce faire tous les moyens de transport, paquebots, railways, voitures, yachts, bâtiments de commerce, traîneaux, éléphant. L’excentrique gentleman avait déployé dans cette affaire ses merveilleuses qualités de sang-froid et d’exactitude. Mais après ? Qu’avait-il gagné à ce déplacement? Qu’avait-il rapporté de ce voyage?

  Rien, dira-t-on? Rien, soit, si ce n’est une charmante femme, qui — quelque invraisemblable que cela puisse paraître — le rendit le plus heureux des hommes!

  En vérité, ne ferait-on pas, pour moins que cela, le Tour du Monde?]

  
  Jules Verne (1828-1905) French novelist, poet, playwright
  Around the World in Eighty Days, ch. 37 (1873)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/verne-jules/33396/feed/ 0 33396 https://wist.info/fields-wc/33270/ https://wist.info/fields-wc/33270/#respond Tue, 12 Apr 2016 20:09:37 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=33270 Happiness means quiet nerves.

  

  
  W. C. Fields (1880-1946) American entertainer [b. William Claude Dukenfield]
  (Attributed)
  
  Quoted in Robert Lewis Taylor, W.C. Fields, His Follies and Fortunes (1949). ]]> https://wist.info/fields-wc/33270/feed/ 0 33270 https://wist.info/roux-joseph/33251/ https://wist.info/roux-joseph/33251/#respond Mon, 11 Apr 2016 13:11:36 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=33251 The happiness which is lacking makes one think even the happiness one has unbearable.
  
  Joseph Roux (1834-1886) French Catholic priest
  Meditations of a Parish Priest: Thoughts, Part 5, #37 (1886)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/roux-joseph/33251/feed/ 0 33251 https://wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/33212/ https://wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/33212/#respond Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:54:39 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=33212 The most general survey shows us that the two foes of human happiness are pain and boredom.

  [Der allgemeinste Überblick zeigt uns, als die beiden Feinde des menschlichen Glückes, den Schmerz und die Langeweile.]

  
  Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
  Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 2 “Of What One Is” [Von dem, was einer ist]” (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
      (Source)
  
  (Source (German)). Alternate translation:
  
  

  The most general survey shows that pain and boredom are the two foes of human happiness.
  [tr. Payne (1974)]

  ]]> https://wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/33212/feed/ 0 33212 https://wist.info/doty-mark/32860/ https://wist.info/doty-mark/32860/#respond Wed, 02 Mar 2016 16:04:59 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32860 What did you think, that joy
  was some slight thing?

  

  
  Mark Doty (b. 1953) American poet and memoirist
  “Visitation”
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/doty-mark/32860/feed/ 0 32860 https://wist.info/proust-marcel/32555/ https://wist.info/proust-marcel/32555/#respond Mon, 08 Feb 2016 15:28:20 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32555 Happiness is beneficial for the body but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind.
  
  Marcel Proust (1871-1922) French author
  Remembrance of Things Past (1913-27) ]]> https://wist.info/proust-marcel/32555/feed/ 0 32555 https://wist.info/walpole-horace/32530/ https://wist.info/walpole-horace/32530/#respond Fri, 05 Feb 2016 16:53:22 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32530 To act with common sense according to the moment, is the best wisdom I know; and the best philosophy, to do one’s duties, take the world as it comes, submit respectfully to one’s lot; bless the Goodness that has given so much happiness with it, whatever it is; and despise affectation.
  
  Horace Walpole (1717-1797) English novelist, letter writer
  Letter to Horace Mann (27 May 1776) ]]> https://wist.info/walpole-horace/32530/feed/ 0 32530 https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/32487/ https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/32487/#respond Thu, 04 Feb 2016 15:12:40 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32487 If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years.

  

  
  Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
  Interview by Seth King, New York Times (1961-05-18)
  
  Interview on his 89th Birthday. The article does not presently show up in the NYT archives, but the quotation is mentioned in Newsweek, "Newsmakers" (1961-05-29), and in Think Magazine, "Thoughts" (1961-12). ]]> https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/32487/feed/ 0 32487 https://wist.info/ehrenreich-barbara/32192/ https://wist.info/ehrenreich-barbara/32192/#respond Fri, 15 Jan 2016 18:37:43 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32192 “Money does not bring happiness” — only the wherewithal, perhaps, to endure its absence.

  

  
  Barbara Ehrenreich (1941-2022) American feminist, journalist, political activist
  Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class, ch. 6 (1990) ]]> https://wist.info/ehrenreich-barbara/32192/feed/ 0 32192 https://wist.info/beecher-henry-ward/32122/ https://wist.info/beecher-henry-ward/32122/#respond Mon, 11 Jan 2016 17:20:20 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32122 The body is like a piano, and happiness is like music. It is needful to have the instrument in good order.
  
  Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American clergyman and orator
  Norwood; or, Village Life in New England, Vol. 1 (1867) ]]> https://wist.info/beecher-henry-ward/32122/feed/ 0 32122 https://wist.info/james-william/32095/ https://wist.info/james-william/32095/#respond Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:56:40 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32095 The first thing to learn in intercourse with others is non-interference with their own peculiar ways of being happy, provided those ways do not assume to interfere by violence with ours.

  

  
  William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
  “What Makes a Life Significant,” Lecture, Harvard (1899)
  
  Reprinted in Talks to Teachers on Psychology, Part 2, Lecture 3. ]]> https://wist.info/james-william/32095/feed/ 0 32095 https://wist.info/tennyson-alfred-lord/32013/ https://wist.info/tennyson-alfred-lord/32013/#respond Thu, 31 Dec 2015 17:22:14 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32013 Hope
  Smiles from the threshold of the year to come
  Whispering “it will be happier.”

  

  
  Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) English poet
  The Foresters, Act 1, sc. 3 [Robin] (1892)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/tennyson-alfred-lord/32013/feed/ 0 32013 https://wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/31882/ https://wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/31882/#respond Thu, 17 Dec 2015 15:12:13 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=31882 The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation, because occupation means pre-occupation; and the pre-occupied person is neither happy nor unhappy, but simply alive and active, which is pleasanter than any happiness until you are tired of it.

  

  
  George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
  Treatise on Parents and Children, “Children’s Happiness” (1914)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/31882/feed/ 0 31882 https://wist.info/heinlein-robert-a/31869/ https://wist.info/heinlein-robert-a/31869/#respond Wed, 16 Dec 2015 14:50:59 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=31869 This sad little lizard told me that he was a Brontosaurus on his mother’s side. I did not laugh; people who boast of ancestry often have little else to sustain them. Humoring them costs nothing and adds to happiness in a world in which happiness is in short supply.
  
  Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
  Time Enough for Love (1973) ]]> https://wist.info/heinlein-robert-a/31869/feed/ 0 31869 https://wist.info/huxley-aldous/31258/ https://wist.info/huxley-aldous/31258/#respond Wed, 04 Nov 2015 14:53:51 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=31258 [T.E. Lawrence] is one of those great men for whom one feels intensely sorry because he was nothing but a great man.
  
  Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
  Letter to Virginia Ocampo (12 Dec 1946) ]]> https://wist.info/huxley-aldous/31258/feed/ 0 31258 https://wist.info/kerr-jean/30990/ https://wist.info/kerr-jean/30990/#respond Mon, 12 Oct 2015 12:32:18 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=30990 SYDNEY: You don’t seem to realize that a poor person who is unhappy is in a better position than a rich person who is unhappy. Because the poor person has hope. He thinks money would help.
  
  Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
  Poor Richard, Act 1 (1965) ]]> https://wist.info/kerr-jean/30990/feed/ 0 30990 https://wist.info/heinlein-robert-a/30707/ https://wist.info/heinlein-robert-a/30707/#respond Tue, 15 Sep 2015 13:48:20 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=30707 A man who is happy at home doesn’t lie awake nights worrying about the hereafter.
  
  Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
  Job: A Comedy of Justice (1984) ]]> https://wist.info/heinlein-robert-a/30707/feed/ 0 30707 https://wist.info/lewis-sinclair/30706/ https://wist.info/lewis-sinclair/30706/#respond Tue, 15 Sep 2015 13:45:35 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=30706 It has not yet been recorded that any human being has gained a very large or permanent contentment from meditation upon the fact that he is better off than others.
  
  Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) American novelist, playwright
  Main Street (1920) ]]> https://wist.info/lewis-sinclair/30706/feed/ 0 30706 https://wist.info/twain-mark/30030/ https://wist.info/twain-mark/30030/#respond Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:32:26 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=30030 Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: This is the ideal life.
  
  Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
  Note (1898-07-04), Mark Twain’s Notebook, ch. 21 “In Vienna” (1935) [ed. Albert Bigelow Paine]
      (Source)
  
  Written while summering at a resort outside of Vienna. Paine notes, "Written in the Archduchess's album" (referring to Marie Theresa of Austria). ]]> https://wist.info/twain-mark/30030/feed/ 0 30030 https://wist.info/milligan-spike/29997/ https://wist.info/milligan-spike/29997/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2015 14:34:03 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29997 Money can’t buy you happiness, but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.
  
  Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (1918-2002) Anglo-Irish comedian, writer, actor
  (Attributed) ]]> https://wist.info/milligan-spike/29997/feed/ 0 29997 https://wist.info/hubbard-elbert-green/29754/ https://wist.info/hubbard-elbert-green/29754/#respond Fri, 26 Jun 2015 14:59:32 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29754 When we are pleased with ourselves, we are pleased with others.
  
  Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
  The Philosophy of Elbert Hubbard [ed. Edward Hubbard II] (1930) ]]> https://wist.info/hubbard-elbert-green/29754/feed/ 0 29754 https://wist.info/petit-senn-jean-antoine/29692/ https://wist.info/petit-senn-jean-antoine/29692/#respond Thu, 18 Jun 2015 15:01:54 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29692 Happiness is where we find it, but very rarely where we seek it.
  
  Jean-Antoine Petit-Senn (1792-1870) French-Swiss poet
  (Attributed) ]]> https://wist.info/petit-senn-jean-antoine/29692/feed/ 0 29692 https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/29580/ https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/29580/#respond Tue, 09 Jun 2015 14:03:10 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29580 ORLANDO: But, O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes!
  
  William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
  As You Like It, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 45ff (5.2.45) (1599)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/29580/feed/ 0 29580 https://wist.info/ackoff-russell/29041/ https://wist.info/ackoff-russell/29041/#respond Thu, 16 Apr 2015 11:48:27 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=29041 Managers who don’t know how to measure what they want settle for wanting what they can measure. For example, those who want a high quality of work life but don’t know how to measure it, often settle for wanting a high standard of living because they can measure it.
  
  Russell L. Ackoff (1919-2009) American organizational theorist, consultant, management scientist
  A little book of f-laws: 13 common sins of management (2006) ]]> https://wist.info/ackoff-russell/29041/feed/ 0 29041 https://wist.info/keller-helen-adams/28749/ https://wist.info/keller-helen-adams/28749/#respond Mon, 23 Mar 2015 12:30:24 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28749 A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.
  
  Helen Keller (1880-1968) American author and lecturer
  The Simplest Way to be Happy (1933)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/keller-helen-adams/28749/feed/ 0 28749 https://wist.info/twain-mark/28734/ https://wist.info/twain-mark/28734/#respond Fri, 20 Mar 2015 12:54:34 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28734 How little a thing can make us happy when we feel that we have earned it!
  
  Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
  Story (1905-12), “Eve’s Diary,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 112, No. 1
      (Source)
  
  On Adam's admiration for her (Eve) having properly named the dodo.
  
  Published in June, 1906, as its own (illustrated) book.
  
  ]]> https://wist.info/twain-mark/28734/feed/ 0 28734 https://wist.info/keller-helen-adams/28314/ https://wist.info/keller-helen-adams/28314/#respond Mon, 16 Feb 2015 14:30:31 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28314 No matter how dull, or how mean, or how wise a man is, he feels that happiness is his indisputable right.
  
  Helen Keller (1880-1968) American author and lecturer
  “Optimism,” part 1 (1903)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/keller-helen-adams/28314/feed/ 0 28314 https://wist.info/horace/28181/ https://wist.info/horace/28181/#respond Fri, 30 Jan 2015 13:32:49 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28181 A man who gets too happy when prosperity comes
  trembles when it goes.

  [Quem res plus nimio delectavere secundae,
  mutatae quatient.]

  
  Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
  Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 10 “To Aristius Fuscus,” l. 30ff (1.10.30-31) (20 BC) [tr. Fuchs (1977)]
      (Source)
  
  (Source (Latin)). Other translations:
  
  

  Who so was to much ravished and to much joy did take
  In flow of wealth, him chaunge of flow yea to much shall yshake.
  [tr. Drant (1567)]

  
  

  Him, whom a prosp'rous State did too much please;
  Chang'd, it will shake.
  [tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]

  
  

  Those whom the smiles of Fate too much delight,
  Their sudden Frowns more shake and more affright.
  [tr. Creech (1684)]

  
  

  They who in Fortune's smiles too much delight,
  Shall tremble when the goddess takes her flight.
  [tr. Francis (1747)]

  
  

  Who prizes fortune at too high a rate,
  Will shrink with horror at an alter'd state.
  [tr. Howes (1845)]

  
  

  He who has been overjoyed by prosperity, will be shocked by a change of circumstances.
  [tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

  
  

  Take too much pleasure in good things, you'll feel
  The shock of adverse fortune makes you reel.
  [tr. Conington (1874)]

  
  

  Whoe'er hath wildly wantoned in success.
  Him will adversity the more depress.
  [tr. Martin (1881)]

  
  

  Him whom prosperity too much elates adversity will shake.
  [tr. Elgood (1893)]

  
  

  One whom Fortune's smiles have delighted overmuch, will reel under the shock of change.
  [tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

  
  

  One overmuch elated with success
  A change of fortune plunges in distress.
  [tr. A. F. Murison (1931)]

  
  

  One whom a favorable turn of events overjoys
  A change for the worse undermines.
  [tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

  
  

  If Fortune’s been kind
  -- Too kind! -- loss will seem more than loss, will seem
  Catastrophe.
  [tr. Raffel (1983)]

  
  

  Change will upset the man who's always been lucky.
  [tr. Ferry (2001)]

  
  

  Those who are overjoyed when the breeze of luck is behind them
  are wrecked when it changes.
  [tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]

  
  

  Those who’ve been quick to enjoy a following wind,
  Are wrecked when it veers.
  [tr. Kline (2015)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/horace/28181/feed/ 0 28181 https://wist.info/huxley-aldous/27712/ https://wist.info/huxley-aldous/27712/#respond Wed, 10 Dec 2014 14:05:53 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=27712 Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.
  
  Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
  Essay (1943-01/02), “Religion and Time,” Vedanta and the West Magazine
      (Source)
  
  Collected in Christopher Isherwood (ed.), Vedanta for the Western World (1945)
  
  This quotation is sometimes misattributed to Huxley's "Distractions I" essay, from the same source (and collection). ]]> https://wist.info/huxley-aldous/27712/feed/ 0 27712 https://wist.info/keillor-garrison/27475/ https://wist.info/keillor-garrison/27475/#respond Thu, 13 Nov 2014 13:31:06 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=27475 Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music and books, raising kids — all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through.
  
  Garrison Keillor (b. 1942) American entertainer, author
  “The Meaning of Life,” We Are Still Married (1989) ]]> https://wist.info/keillor-garrison/27475/feed/ 0 27475 https://wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/27372/ https://wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/27372/#respond Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:09:59 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=27372 But we live through the fine days without noticing them; only when we fall on evil ones do we wish to have back the former. With sour faces we let a thousand bright and pleasant hours slip by unenjoyed and afterwards vainly sigh for their return when times are trying and depressing. Instead of this, we should cherish every present moment that is bearable, even the most ordinary, which with such indifference we now let slip by, and even with impatience push on.

  [Aber wir verleben unsre schönen Tage, ohne sie zu bemerken: erst wann die schlimmen kommen, wünschen wir jene zurück. Tausend heitere, angenehme Stunden lassen wir, mit verdrießlichem Gesicht, ungenossen an uns vorüberziehn, um nachher, zur trüben Zeit, mit vergeblicher Sehnsucht ihnen nachzuseufzen. Statt dessen sollten wir jede erträgliche Gegenwart, auch die alltägliche, welche wir jetzt so gleichgültig vorüberziehn lassen, und wohl gar noch ungeduldig nachschieben.]

  
  Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
  Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 5 “Counsels and Maxims [Paränesen und Maximen],” § 2.5 (1851) [tr. Payne (1974)]
      (Source)
  
  (Source (German)). Alternate translation:
  
  

  But we live through our days of happiness without noticing them; it is only when evil comes upon us that we wish them back. A thousand gay and pleasant hours are wasted in ill-humor; we let them slip by unenjoyed, and sigh for them in vain when the sky is overcast. Those present moments that are bearable, be they never so trite and common, -- passed by in indifference, or, it may be, impatiently pushed away.
  [tr. Saunders (1890)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/27372/feed/ 0 27372 https://wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/26899/ https://wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/26899/#respond Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:43:39 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=26899 Human life must be some kind of mistake. The truth of this will be sufficiently obvious if we only remember that man is a compound of needs and necessities hard to satisfy; and that even when they are satisfied, all he obtains is a state of painlessness, where nothing remains to him but abandonment to boredom. This is direct proof that existence has no real value in itself; for what is boredom but the feeling of the emptiness of life? If life — the craving for which is the very essence of our being — were possessed of any positive intrinsic value, there would be no such thing as boredom at all: mere existence would satisfy us in itself, and we should want for nothing. But as it is, we take no delight in existence except when we are struggling for something; and then distance and difficulties to be overcome make our goal look as though it would satisfy us — an illusion which vanishes when we reach it; or else when we are occupied with some purely intellectual interest — when in reality we have stepped forth from life to look upon it from the outside, much after the manner of spectators at a play. And even sensual pleasure itself means nothing but a struggle and aspiration, ceasing the moment its aim is attained. Whenever we are not occupied in one of these ways, but cast upon existence itself, its vain and worthless nature is brought home to us; and this is what we mean by boredom. The hankering after what is strange and uncommon — an innate and ineradicable tendency of human nature — shows how glad we are at any interruption of that natural course of affairs which is so very tedious.

  [Daß das menschliche Daseyn eine Art Verirrung seyn müsse, geht zur Genüge aus der einfachen Bemerkung hervor, daß der Mensch ein Konkrement von Bedürfnissen ist, deren schwer zu erlangende Befriedigung ihm doch nichts gewährt, als einen schmerzlosen Zustand, in welchem er nur noch der Langenweile Preis gegeben ist, welche dann geradezu beweist, daß das Daseyn an sich selbst keinen Werth hat: denn sie ist eben nur die Empfindung der Leerheit desselben. Wenn nämlich das Leben, in dem Verlangen nach welchem unser Wesen und Daseyn besteht, einen positiven Werth und realen Gehalt in sich selbst hätte; so könnte es gar keine Langeweile geben: sondern das bloße Daseyn, an sich selbst, müßte uns erfüllen und befriedigen. Nun aber werden wir unsers Daseyns nicht anders froh, als entweder im Streben, wo die Ferne und die Hindernisse das Ziel als befriedigend uns vorspiegeln, welche Illusion nach der Erreichung verschwindet; oder aber in einer rein intellektuellen Beschäftigung, in welcher wir jedoch eigentlich aus dem Leben heraustreten, um es von außen zu betrachten, gleich Zuschauern in den Logen. Sogar der Sinnengenuß selbst besteht in einem fortwährenden Streben und hört auf, sobald sein Ziel erreicht ist. So oft wir nun nicht in einem jener beiden Fälle begriffen, sondern auf das Daseyn selbst zurückgewiesen sind, werden wir von der Gehaltlosigkeit und Nichtigkeit desselben überführt, und Das ist die Langeweile. Sogar das uns inwohnende und unvertilgbare, begierige Haschen nach dem Wunderbaren zeigt an, wie gern wir die so langweilige, natürliche Ordnung des Verlaufs der Dinge unterbrochen sähen.]

  
  Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
  Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 11 “The Vanity of Existence [Der Nichtigkeit des Daseins],” § 146 (1851)
      (Source)
  
  (Source (German)). Alternate translation:
  
  

  That human life must be a kind of mistake is sufficiently clear from the fact that man is a compound of needs, which are difficult to satisfy; moreover, if they are satisfied, all he is granted is a state of painlessness, in which he can only give himself up to boredom. This is a precise proof that existence in itself has no value, since boredom is merely the feeling of the emptiness of life. If, for instance, life, the longing for which constitutes our very being, had in itself any positive and real value, boredom could not exist; mere existence in itself would supply us with everything, and therefore satisfy us. But our existence would not be a joyous thing unless we were striving after something; distance and obstacles to be overcome then represent our aim as something that would satisfy us -- an illusion which vanishes when our aim has been attained; or when we are engaged in something that is of a purely intellectual nature, when, in reality, we have retired from the world, so that we may observe it from the outside, like spectators at a theatre. Even sensual pleasure itself is nothing but a continual striving, which ceases directly its aim is attained. As soon as we are not engaged in one of these two ways, but thrown back on existence itself, we are convinced of the emptiness and worthlessness of it; and this it is we call boredom. That innate and ineradicable craving for what is out of the common proves how glad we are to have the natural and tedious course of things interrupted.
  [tr. Dircks]

  
  

  That human existence must be some kind of error, is sufficiently clear from the simple observation that man is a concretion of needs and wants. Their satisfaction is hard to attain and yet affords him nothing but a painless state in which he is still abandoned to boredom. This, then, is a positive proof that, in itself, existence has no value; for boredom is just that feeling of its emptiness. Thus if life, in the craving for which our very essence and existence consist, had a positive value and in itself a real intrinsic worth, there could not possibly be any boredom. On the contrary, mere existence in itself would necessarily fill our hearts and satisfy us. Now we take no delight in our existence except in striving for something when the distance and obstacles make us think that the goal will be satisfactory, an illusion that vanishes when it is reached; or else in a purely intellectual occupation where we really step out of life in order to contemplate it from without, like spectators in the boxes. Even sensual pleasure itself consists in a constant striving and ceases as soon as its goal is attained. Now whenever we are not striving for something or are not intellectually occupied, but are thrown back on existence itself, its worthlessness and vanity are brought home to us; and this is what is meant by boredom. Even our inherent and ineradicable tendency to run after what is strange and extraordinary shows how glad we are to see an interruption in the natural course of things which is so tedious.
  [tr. Payne (1974)]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/schopenhauer-arthur/26899/feed/ 0 26899 https://wist.info/mencken-hl/26900/ https://wist.info/mencken-hl/26900/#respond Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:41:05 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=26900 PURITANISM: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
  
  H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
  “Arcana Coelestia,” A Mencken Chrestomathy (1949) ]]> https://wist.info/mencken-hl/26900/feed/ 0 26900 https://wist.info/colton-charles-caleb/25201/ https://wist.info/colton-charles-caleb/25201/#respond Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:03:58 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=25201 Ambition makes the same mistake concerning power, that avarice makes concerning wealth; she begins by accumulating power, as a mean to happiness, and she finishes by continuing to accumulate it, as an end.
  
  Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
  Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 148 (1820)
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/colton-charles-caleb/25201/feed/ 0 25201 https://wist.info/kant-immanuel/23451/ https://wist.info/kant-immanuel/23451/#respond Thu, 09 Jan 2014 13:37:24 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=23451 Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination.
  
  Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher
  Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals [Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten] (1785) ]]> https://wist.info/kant-immanuel/23451/feed/ 0 23451 https://wist.info/joubert-joseph/21816/ https://wist.info/joubert-joseph/21816/#respond Mon, 05 Aug 2013 20:31:55 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=21816 This is perhaps a not unimportant counsel to give to writers: write nothing that does not give you great pleasure; emotion passes easily from writer to reader.

  [Ce ne serait peut-être pas un conseil peu important à donner aux écrivains, que celui-ci: n’écrivez jamais rien qui ne vous fasse un grand plaisir; l’émotion se propage aisément de l’écrivain au lecteur.]

  
  Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
  Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 23 “Des Qualités de l’Écrivain [Of the Qualities of Writers],” ¶ 58 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 22, ¶ 25]
      (Source)
  
  (Source (French)). Alternate translations:
  
  

  This were perhaps not an unimportant advice to give to writers: never write any thing that does not give you great enjoyment; emotion is easily propagated from the writer to the reader.
  [tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 15]

  
  

  And perhaps there is no advice to give a writer more important than this: -- Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure.
  [tr. Auster (1983)], 1823 entry]

  
  ]]> https://wist.info/joubert-joseph/21816/feed/ 0 21816 https://wist.info/johnson-samuel/20542/ https://wist.info/johnson-samuel/20542/#respond Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:03:43 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=20542 Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. The flowers which scatter their odours from time to time in the paths of life, grow up without culture from seeds scattered by chance.
  
  Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
  Essay (1759-05-26), The Idler, No. 58
      (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/johnson-samuel/20542/feed/ 0 20542 https://wist.info/jefferson-thomas/20031/ https://wist.info/jefferson-thomas/20031/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:38:21 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=20031 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable Rights; that among these, are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness; that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
  
  Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
  Document (1776-07-02), “Declaration of Independence”
      (Source)
  
  As modified and approved by the Continental Congress. Compare to Jefferson's original draft. ]]> https://wist.info/jefferson-thomas/20031/feed/ 2 20031 https://wist.info/kant-immanuel/19993/ https://wist.info/kant-immanuel/19993/#comments Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:58:20 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=19993 Morality is not properly the doctrine [of] how we should make ourselves happy, but how we should make ourselves worthy of happiness.
  
  Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher
  Critique of Practical Reason [Kritik der praktischen Vernunft], 1.2.2.5 (1788) [tr. Abbott (1873)] ]]> https://wist.info/kant-immanuel/19993/feed/ 3 19993