Persuasive Essay On Happy Life

“Happiness is in the enjoyment of man’s chief good. Two conditions of the chief good: 1st, Nothing is better than it; 2nd, it cannot be lost against the will” (Augustine 264-267). As human

Mahatma Gandhi one defined happiness as “when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Barring any better definition of happiness from either positive psychologists, self-help gurus, or any other academic source, I tend to think this is a great summation of the definition of happiness. Gandhi doesn’t say anything about how these things make you feel, rather looks at it from a point of view of harmony between thoughts, expressions, and actions. Since one single accepted definition of happiness doesn’t seem to exist, and happiness is different for everyone, this begs the question; how can you increase your own personal level of happiness?

The concept of living “the good life” means something different for everyone. There is a general understanding that living “the good life” is associated with unyielding happiness and lasting satisfaction. The exact meaning of this desired life was pondered by thinkers and philosophers for hundreds of years. They constructed principals of behavior, thought, and obligation that would categorize a person as “good”. Although some of these ancient philosophies about “the good life” had overlapping ideas, their concepts varied widely. This contrast of ideas can be examined through two major characters in two famous works: Aeneas in “The Aeneid” and Socrates in “The Apology”. Aeneas exemplifies the philosophy that the direct route to “the good life" is through faith, trust in the Gods, and family, while Socrates in “The Apology” emphasizes free will, and vast knowledge of life.

As Philosophy presents, happiness is the “highest good of a rational nature” and the “state of perfection achieved by the concentration of all goods within it” (page 27, 41). This definition, along with the notion that the supreme cannot be taken away from people, noticeably exhibits that happiness cannot be awarded by earthly gifts from Fortune and is the intrinsic good that lacks nothing outside itself and could achieve everything on its own. True and perfect happiness can only be achieved by the possession of the supreme good in which all goods are possessed. Meanwhile, God is happiness itself because God is the supreme goods as happiness and there cannot be two highest goods which differ from each

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

Aquinas makes numerous claims regarding happiness. Specifically, Aquinas uses the term “happiness” in a sense of objective fulfillment, rather than subjective well-being. He asserts that human happiness does not consist in acquiring things such as money, honor, fame, power, goods of the body, or pleasure. He also claims that complete, i.e. perfect, happiness can only be achieved by contemplating God in the afterlife. I will discuss arguments for, arguments against, and my opinion for both claims.

Happiness: a Human Disease -- An Examination of the Allegorical Theme of Existentialism in the Happy Man

When first asked, I believed that happiness was simply fulfilling a desire, but through topics discussed in class, I now realize that there is so much more to happiness. The road to happiness includes using virtues to receive gifts from God and from others. From the Beatitudes, we can learn to use what Jesus has taught us, to gain happiness in our everyday lives. We are taught that when we believe in God, mourn, be gentle, seek righteousness, show mercy,

Happiness is what all human beings/rational beings desire. It is always the end (goal) of our activities, it is an unconditional good.

The everlasting question of "What is Happiness?" has been inquired since the creation of men. Unfortunately, the only agreed answer that humanity came up with is that all the creatures seek happiness, but no one has the concrete directions for achieving it. Our libraries are overwhelmed with books about happiness, but no dictionary definition explains which path men must take to be happy. No mathematician gave us the axiom which we could use to solve the problem of living in bliss. No scientist brought up the formula of fusing certain ingredients to produce the "drink of happiness". Still almost all the people consider that their ultimate purport in

There is really no definite explanation for what a happy and healthy life consists of. People may create a list of qualities that one desires for a “good” life, though many may come from a bad source. Profound philosophers Jean Kazez and Chris Heathwood developed both subjective and objective theories to help define the true meaning of a substantial life. Jean Kazez was responsible for the objective view of well being, where life requires fundamental goods or necessities for a good life. On the other hand, Chris Heathwood explained in a subjective view that satisfying your desires will promote well being. In the movie, D’Jango Unchained, two black men, Stephen and D’Jango, experienced contrasting lives and confronted each other at the end of the movie. During the time period the movie transpires in, it was extremely rare for a black man to have a “good” life. Most black people were made into slaves, but both Stephen and D’Jango had better lives. Stephen had a bad quality of life, and D’Jango aspired to live a “good” life based on the objective and subjective views of well being.

The happiest experiences often involve people we care about, and thus taps into human beings’ greatest source of meaning”(Moeller). When you spend money on trips you make some memories that you will most likely remember for a life time. Memories that a person can look back at and think about. Memories that can bring a smile to your face. All of these memories you get from taking a trip basically come down to some money you invested. Investing money to make memories that will make you happy is worth it because people just don’t forget memories. Memories are priceless, they can never be taken away from you. This is just one example on how money can bring you happiness.

Psychologists have not located assured causes that lead people to well-being. David G. Myers in his article “The Funds, Friends, and Faith of Happy People” published in the American Psychologist (2000) and Michael Wiederman in “Why It's So Hard to Be Happy” published in the Scientific American Mind (2007), discuss the reasons which lead people to be happy, and the factors which contribute to unhappiness.

In today’s world, humans are often misled on what really is a good life. We are constantly shown through the television and magazines that being rich and famous is the way to go when it comes to a good life, when in truth many of them are miserable by problems that usually wouldn’t affect the common person. In truth there are only a few that are rich and famous and do achieve what can probably considered one of the greatest achievement’s by a man which is having a good life. In my opinion, the decision if someone has a good life or not is up to them and their will to strive for something better than average during the high school years of their life. The reason I feel like it begins at that age in their life is

It is common sense that all the human beings would like to live a happy life and they will spare no efforts in order to realize the purpose of really living a happy life in the end. However, different people have different definitions toward what a happy life is and they tend to have different standards as for how a life is that can be regarded as a happy life. There is no doubt that people will then try different means in order to pursue a happy life based on their definition toward what a happy life is. Therefore, the following will talk about the pursuit of a happy life from the perspectives of both Dalai Lama in The Art of Happiness and Viktor E. Frankl in Man’s Searching for Meaning, during which the experiences of some characters from the film Forrest Gump will be applied as evidence. Generally speaking, the pursuit of a happy life in the minds of Dalai Lama and Viktor E. Frankl can be achieved via experiencing sufferings and adversity. It is hoped that this analysis can help people understand what a happy is from a different point of view.