Nathaniel Hawthorne's Essay: The Pursuit Of Happiness

Money and Happiness Why most of rich people are not happy with what they have? Happiness is the feeling which people feel it when they are satisfied with what they have even though these people are poor or rich. Money is the way that people use it to bring things which they can buy it by money. Sharon Begley in her article “Why Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness” states that sometimes there are relationship between money and happiness because people always try to spend less money when they want to buy somethings.

In today’s society people are constantly striving towards happiness. People will work their entire life chasing something and in the end still be unhappy. Continually pursuing this idealistic goal of happiness and never feeling as though they have accomplished it, leaving people wondering if it is even worth it. It often makes people question what happiness is even considered anymore in today’s society and curious as to how they can achieve such a thing. Devoting one’s entire life to achieving happiness in our 21st century society is actually adversely affecting the individual’s happiness.

People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through

“Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has, the more one wants,” quoted by Benjamin Franklin. Money can’t buy happiness because materials are short lived, human connection is more important, and wealth undermines people’s ability to savor positive events from the sheer abundance. Money will accumulate but it is easy to chase more and more until you realize you’re not actually living. Happiness that is based off of product is fugitive.

Studies have shown, only 1-in-3 Americans are very happy with their life. The two-thirds that are not happy tend to believe one of two things: that they are not happy because they do not own or have as many things compared to another person, and because they fill their inner void of happiness with money. The truth is money can buy many, many things, except happiness.

Happiness is one of the most important emotions; with happiness, all cares disappear, which is why it is so important for people to be happy before perishing. In an article titled “Why Being Happy Is Important”, Collette Gee, author, speaker, and relationship specialist, explains how happiness can affect you:

Throughout history humankind has been trying to define happiness. What is it exactly and how do we obtain it? We always think that happiness is a place to be or a destination and technically, that is the main premise or goal of our lives; to obtain happiness. So our whole lives go by from the minute were born to the last breath we take in a quest to work hard in order to reach that destination. Naturally, many philosophical writers have jumped on the bandwagon and put in their two cents of their views on the matter of happiness. Alexander Pope talks about the relationship and purpose man has to the universe in An Essay on Man, Voltaire wrote about living in blind optimism with a false notion of happiness in Candide, and Samuel

Bob Marley once said, “Money is a number and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end.” We should see money for what it is, a means, and not an end. The Great Gatsby teaches that money is not a sufficient means to happiness, and when you have too much of it, can lead to a sad and empty life. I believe that some wealth is necessary to happiness, but not a exorbitant amount.

Essentially, seeking happiness is necessary in life. We often hope to find happiness from other people, other things around us and forget that we can create it by ourselves. The novel “The happiness project” by Gretchen Rubin is sufficient evidence. The author states, “I am happy – but I’m not as happy as I should be.”(13) Then she started a project within a year to change her life and seek for a happier life. By making a list of things she has to do in the next twelve months, the author have done many things which affects her “Vitality” (1), her “Marriage” (38), her “Leisure” (112), her “Friendship” (141),etc. positively so that she can achieve her goal, which is a life full filed of happiness as she dreamed before. We can also do that. We know that if everyone of us set a goal and live purposely, we are all happy. However, we can be happier if we know how to change ourselves on the right way. We can make ourselves happy by doing simple things in our everyday life.

Can we really obtain happiness? Or are we like racing greyhounds chasing an artificial lure around a track, only to cross the finish line empty handed? Pursuit is an act of striving for something...the effort made to try to achieve or obtain something over a period of time. What is this happiness that we're striving for? Is it a great career or being successful? Happiness, by definition is described as an emotion caused or characterized by pleasure, contentment, or joy.

On the contrary, the pursuit of happiness is not habitually good. Sometimes being too happy is not a good thing, others argue. To desperately want happiness is not healthy for one. “ Recent work has also argued that happiness should not always be desired. In fact, striving for happiness may actually cause more harm than good” (Gruber). The problem is that when one has too much happiness they become overwhelmed. Once one becomes overwhelmed they become depressed. Although, the Pursuit of Happiness is not necessarily finding happiness but allowing one to be

But they could have all the money in the world and still not be happy because happiness is not based on money. The Reb one time told Albom: “The number of marriages that have disintegrated when they had all the stuff in the world. The families who fought and argued all the time, when they had money and health (100-101).” . On the other hand, people find happiness when they are comfortable with themselves or those around them and being thankful for what they have.

Landau states that “more money does not necessarily buy more happiness, but less money is associated with emotional pain” meaning money is materialistic and in the long run will not effect long term happiness (Landau 2). Money will buy you something materialistic that will be temporary in your life but after time fades you will eventually get bored until you find something new although it might have left you with some good memories and experience.

We all have heard the phrase “money can’t buy you happiness.” That phrase is a lie because mostly everything in today’s society revolves around money. The things people like revolve around money too. What a coincidence? Let’s say a person is upset so they go buy their favorite ice cream because they know it will make them happy. That person had the money to invest in something that made them happy. Or on an even bigger let’s say someone has been fantasizing about a car and they finally get enough money to purchase their dream car. This person is likely to be very happy. If it was not for the money, they would not have gotten that dream car, so basically the money made them happy. The truth is money makes people happy.

There are many people claim that there is not any relationship between money and happiness. However, I believe that there is a direct relationship between money and happiness. Research shows that being able to provide our basic needs and higher-level wants leads us to a happy life. The relationship between money and happiness is like the relationship between food and body. “The importance of money in human life is similar to the importance of food for the body. Just like you can’t live even for a few days without food, you can’t survive for long without money.”(Singh, 2015).Having access to our necessities, being able to participate in leisure activities, and being able to help our friends, are things which make us happy; and we need money for having them.So, for being happy in our life,