Pursuit of Happiness

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As you know these words come from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, perhaps one of the greatest documents ever written. However, I do have a little problem with the last four words sentence, “the pursuit of Happiness” because I believe it actually sends an easily misinterpreted message.

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” as stated in the Constitution as well as stated by the philosopher John Locke, is the basis for the United States of America as we know it today. The notion that all humans were created equal and that all people are entitled to basic human rights came from the various experiences the colonists faced through the Revolution, which was a vital influence in the creation of the Constitution. The revolution was a key turning point in American history, it was when the American colonies rejected the ideals of the British and battled for their independence.

The U.S Constitution, famously known for establishing America’s national government and providing fundamental laws assuring citizens certain basic fundamental rights was a milestone in our countries beginning. In today’s society, especially with all the turmoil happening between people and governing bodies the rights which the Constitution provides is saving many Americans from being treated poorly or as most would say “unconstitutionally.” The Constitution is simply one of the most distinct and brilliant documents to ever see the light of day. Although some may have little to no knowledge of the Constitution, it

It is natural for a person to focus their goals on what will provide happiness. People do not focus on being poor for instance but it does not mean that being rich provides complete happiness.

Every other Monday morning the workers of the fast food restaurant next door line up in my lobby waiting to cash their paychecks. There is a wide range of ages, races, and sexes; there is no one demographic in the lobby. The conversations are about coworkers not present or about their spouses. They complain about the long shifts or an angry customer they encountered in the drive up this morning. One young woman discusses her daughter’s adventures at kindergarten. There are complaints of the cost of car repairs or a visit to the hospital last week. There are questions of who is working tonight and what time does the bus come, all of these conversations could be happening in any bank lobby anywhere in the United States. The noise level continues to rise in the lobby as more workers enter the building, the energy in the lobby rises as the excitement of the workers increases, today is payday. Or is it anxiety? Are their thoughts, masked behind idle chit chat, of how am I going to pay rent and feed my family? How am I going to make this pay last for two weeks? These fellow humans are the full time working poor.

Happiness is a key to everybodys life. Even the most depressed man on earth has a little happiness deep down inside. Its what keeps us striving to fulfil our needs and wants on an everyday basis. There is not one kid who does not get excited over a dollar to spend at the candy shop. What about the feeling of getting a promotion at your job, or even finding the cure for cancer. Being happy is not just healthy, but it is also rewarding for each and every individual. We strive to find anything that will turn a bad day to a good one. Individuals will compromise to attain their happiness. You can not get what you want without giving something first.

Happiness is something very abstract and it differs from individual to individual. I always feel that a poor man will always be thankful to the almighty even if he is provided with two square meals a day but at least he can sleep happily with no stress; on the other hand a rich man will always be unhappy throughout his life either in the pursuit of creating wealth or in the tension of safeguarding his wealth. Accumulating wealth is extremely time consuming and time once lost cannot be regained; moreover, not all have the potential and skills of earning which is always coupled with hard work and

Some of the most common themes in contemporary biographical films revolve around social life as well as the accompanying problems that living in today's society entails. By making connections to individual personal lives, these films help most people make sense of the world in which they live. In this regard, this paper focuses on the film, The Pursuit of Happyness outlining various cultural issues as well as problems faced by the starring; Will Smith playing Chris Gardner in the movie. Moreover, the paper discusses how such factual films reflect and create popular ideas about social problems.

For our Economics subject, we watched The Pursuit of Happyness, a movie based on Chris Gardner, a salesman who was not making that much money and eventually experiences homelessness with his five-year old son. He faces problems when his wife is unwilling to accept his goal to become a stockbroker and leaves him. However, he perseveres even under all this stress.

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.

There are many theories surrounding happiness, and the pursuit of happiness. Some believe that an external force must be present to bring about happiness, while others argue that happiness is individualized, and is completely up to a person's internal mindset of whether he or she is able to achieve and maintain happiness. Aristotle, a significant ancient Greek philosopher, believes that happiness requires an action. He affirms that there are many factors that play into someone's happiness; including materialistic things, which help support this state of being. His claim is that happiness is a holistic approach to life and must be achieved by living virtuously with moral character. Aristotle also indicates that happiness is not a moment in time, but rather a journey of exploration by way of living harmoniously, through a pursuit of achieving life’s goals and desires. He adds that a life of happiness is driven by virtue and emotions, which all play a role in achieving optimum happiness.

Happiness is the central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. All action is goal oriented and the goal of every action, is to reach happiness. According to Aristotle, happiness is “living well

Nietzsche wrote "Mankind does not strive for happiness; only the Englishman does that ." He mocks the Englishman for striving towards happiness. This illustrates Nietzsche’s view on the pursuit of happiness; he does not belief we can become happy when we actively aim for it, it is a by-product. He sees happiness as a paradox. When people try to create happiness directly, they will experience it the least. Happiness should not be the ultimate goal. According to Nietzsche, life should not be valued by the amount of happiness attained, but to which degree the life is coherent. To him, a coherent life is dedicated to an overarching goal or mission.

According to the philosophy of happiness (14, 15, 16 & 17), Aristotle stated the factors that make happiness as good health, money, relationships and good moral behavior. Aristotle pointed out that happiness was the ultimate desire for human being leaving nothing more to be desired. The happiness is sought for its own sake unlike other things which are sought in order to achieve happiness. Aristotle understood that for an individual to be happy one must be of good morals and can suffer to achieve the greater happiness later in the long run. Many individuals believe that

It is human nature to want and desire certain things out of life. For the most part, people want the same things. No one is the same as anyone else but we all share the fact that we want to make our lives as good as we possibly can. There are many ways to achieve happiness and everything that is wanted out of life can make you happy. Whatever a person’s truest desire may be, if they obtain that desire they obtain happiness. All that is desired falls under “What will make you happy in life?” We long to be happy, but what gets us there?