The Pursuit of Happiness
Happiness. What is it. How do you obtain it? Is it fickle? Or merely temporary? Is it something that is deserved? Something earned? What is happiness?
Originally quoted as “The right to life, liberty and property” by John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the United States of America and one of the great founding fathers of the United States of America, added the phrase, the pursuit of happiness, replacing property with it.
Does that mean that property brings happiness? Property was seen as the measurement of a man’s wealth. So does wealth bring happiness? How many rich are truly content with their riches? Do those who seek wealth ever say “Enough”? Are they ever satisfied? And if they are never satisfied, how can they be truly happy? Surely happiness does not come out of wealth, for the poor have seen happiness too, and just as fire never says enough, neither does the greedy ever see rest.
Thomas Jefferson may have also taken the phrase “Pursuit of happiness” from the esteemed John Locke.
“The necessity of pursuing happiness [is] the foundation of liberty. As therefore the highest perfection of intellectual nature lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness; so the care of ourselves, that we mistake not imaginary for real happiness, is the necessary foundation of our liberty.” ~John Locke
So now what is imaginary and what is real happiness?
The ancient greek word for happiness has a close relationship to the greek word for virtue and excellence. Is happiness that simple? Does happiness come from that which is good? In looking at what others have said in the past about what true happiness is...humanity doesn’t have a clue as to what it is... But one thing does seem clear, true happiness does seem to come from virtuosity.
“False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared.” Charles de Montesquieu
As Benjamin Franklin famously stated later in his life, “The U.S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.”
But what if true happiness cannot be caught? Maybe... just maybe, what if happiness is a by-product of virtue? What if by chasing after happiness, we end up chasing our own tails? What if chasing after happiness is chasing after the wrong thing? If we chase after virtue, will happiness not follow?
Did Thomas Jefferson think that? The one who coined the phrase famous, what did he think about the attainment of happiness? You may be surprised by the answer.
"Perfect happiness, I believe, was never intended by the Deity to be the lot of one of his creatures of this world; but that he has very much put in our power the nearness of our approaches to it, is what I steadfastly believe. The most fortunate of us, in our journey through life, frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which may greatly afflict us; and, to fortify our minds against the attacks of these calamities and misfortunes, should be one of the principal studies and endeavors of our lives. The only method of doing this is to assume a perfect resignation to the Divine will, to consider that whatever does happen, must happen; and that, by our uneasiness, we cannot prevent the blow before it does fall, but we may add to its force after it has fallen." Thomas Jefferson
Jared Williams
Originally quoted as “The right to life, liberty and property” by John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the United States of America and one of the great founding fathers of the United States of America, added the phrase, the pursuit of happiness, replacing property with it.
Does that mean that property brings happiness? Property was seen as the measurement of a man’s wealth. So does wealth bring happiness? How many rich are truly content with their riches? Do those who seek wealth ever say “Enough”? Are they ever satisfied? And if they are never satisfied, how can they be truly happy? Surely happiness does not come out of wealth, for the poor have seen happiness too, and just as fire never says enough, neither does the greedy ever see rest.
Thomas Jefferson may have also taken the phrase “Pursuit of happiness” from the esteemed John Locke.
“The necessity of pursuing happiness [is] the foundation of liberty. As therefore the highest perfection of intellectual nature lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness; so the care of ourselves, that we mistake not imaginary for real happiness, is the necessary foundation of our liberty.” ~John Locke
So now what is imaginary and what is real happiness?
The ancient greek word for happiness has a close relationship to the greek word for virtue and excellence. Is happiness that simple? Does happiness come from that which is good? In looking at what others have said in the past about what true happiness is...humanity doesn’t have a clue as to what it is... But one thing does seem clear, true happiness does seem to come from virtuosity.
“False happiness renders men stern and proud, and that happiness is never communicated. True happiness renders them kind and sensible, and that happiness is always shared.” Charles de Montesquieu
As Benjamin Franklin famously stated later in his life, “The U.S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.”
But what if true happiness cannot be caught? Maybe... just maybe, what if happiness is a by-product of virtue? What if by chasing after happiness, we end up chasing our own tails? What if chasing after happiness is chasing after the wrong thing? If we chase after virtue, will happiness not follow?
Did Thomas Jefferson think that? The one who coined the phrase famous, what did he think about the attainment of happiness? You may be surprised by the answer.
"Perfect happiness, I believe, was never intended by the Deity to be the lot of one of his creatures of this world; but that he has very much put in our power the nearness of our approaches to it, is what I steadfastly believe. The most fortunate of us, in our journey through life, frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which may greatly afflict us; and, to fortify our minds against the attacks of these calamities and misfortunes, should be one of the principal studies and endeavors of our lives. The only method of doing this is to assume a perfect resignation to the Divine will, to consider that whatever does happen, must happen; and that, by our uneasiness, we cannot prevent the blow before it does fall, but we may add to its force after it has fallen." Thomas Jefferson
Jared Williams
