Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
introduction on personal goals
introduction on personal goals
introduction on personal goals
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: introduction on personal goals
Happiness is a state of mind. The dictionary definition is "feelings of joy and pleasure mingled together”. A feeling of happiness is more than just an experience of joy or pleasure. It is a state of mind where the individual feels that “life is good”. As Aristotle says, “happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” I believe that everyone wants to be happy in life. One is abnormal if he prefers to be sad and alone. Happiness is something that must be practice according to John Lubbock. Well, I guess he’s right. I know happiness will come deep within us if only we set our minds on it. How could I promote happiness? Of course by beginning with myself. The saying, “10 percent is what happens to us and 90 percent is how we react with it” is one of my favorite. I may not be able to control what will happen to me, but surely, I always have the power over my emotions. In every circumstance, whether it may be good or bad, I must always keep those smiles plastered in my face. I must be thankful to God in whatever things happen for I know He’s always in control of everything. Another thing to do is for me to know my purpose in life. Since I already knew it, and I already realized what I really wanted in life, it is important for me to have a lot of faith in God and have self-confidence inside. Next is for me to, share God’s love to other people… it may be through serving others. The feeling of making other people happy is something that I would never trade. Enjoying the company of my love ones also would bring happiness to me. If I would make a way to get even closer to my family and friends… I bet that would be a sure source of happiness. Mark Twain believes that whoever is happy will make others happy, too. So if I wanted to promote happiness to others, I must have that happiness first. I could promote happiness to others by means of always smiling to them.
Although they bear some smashing similarities, the difference between Socrates and Thoreau’s arguments are they both believe that humans are only virtuous beings. And that their views on people and the government are divergent. In “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, he wrote an essay in 1849 about the American policies being criticized it argues that people should not permit governments to overrule or impair their consciences, and how the American slavery and Mexican-American war was going on. He argues that the problems were really about changing the government and how it works. He states that he’s just basically washing his hands and refusing to follow any laws followed by the government. Since they strip of their powers from the
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American philosopher, author, poet, abolitionist, and naturalist. He was famous for his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, and his book, Walden. He believed in individual conscience and nonviolent acts of political resistance to protest unfair laws. Moreover, he valued the importance of observing nature, being individual, and living in a simple life by his own values. His writings later influenced the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, he advocated individual nonviolent resistance to the unjust state and reflected his simple living in the nature.
In Thoreau’s view, he felt that the government was insufficient. He didn’t need the laws to be just, he used his conscious and morality. He was compelled to do what morally was right, rather than it being based on government issued laws such as the complacent society there is today. People seem to care about justice, yet are immoral. This was the message Thoreau was trying to get across.
For Thoreau’s arrest to be an act of civil disobedience, it has to be publicized. Being publicized distinguishes his arrest as civil disobedience rather than being criminal (7). Thoreau had many people offering to pay his taxes but refused to take them. His refusal made his arrest publicized enough for someone to pay his taxes to release him from jail. Civil disobedient acts need to be publicized to show the participant is against the political system. Thoreau showed he was against paying taxes by wanting to stay in jail and arguing that he should be the only person to pay his own taxes. This indicates he wanted his disobedience justified.
He states that he had not paid a poll tax for over six years and that he even spent time in jail for it; never letting it once crush his motivation. Further, he pities the government because they can’t make him do anything he does not want to do because he is willing to face the physical punishment immediately following. While in jail, he mentions his roommate – an honest and intellectual man – who had been accused of burning down a barn. Thoreau realized his earlier point, that one is better off fighting injustice if they had experienced it first, while in jail and learned the other world which was just beyond the chain-link fences in his own native town. Thoreau doesn’t believe it to be sinful that he often thinks about how men should be instead of accepting who they really are – truly due to the injustices he sees. He doesn’t see politicians as leaders, but as followers to the Constitution, and further, to the men who devised it. Respect for the strides America takes to maintain democracy is established, but the question of whether democracy is really the final step in establishing the near perfect is equally as respected by Thoreau. Thoreau concludes with his strong-willed voice, but now expresses hope for the future of America and its evolving
Happiness can come in many different ways for people. For me, my Pursuit of Happiness is doing what you love and living your life to your expectations. Over this unit of American Literature we have studied The Great Gatsby the characters looked to others for their happiness. In Of Mice and Men The characters did what made others happy instead of themselves and also looked to simple things for happiness. Although in Ain't I a Woman Sojourner Truth did what made her happy even if everyone was against her. If you are doing
If one were to follow the beliefs that Henry David Thoreau expresses in “Civil Disobedience,” one wouldn’t be living a life without conflict. Thoreau wrote various works that deeply affected the society around him during his time, and these works continue to leave a lasting impression on those who read them today. His ideas challenge readers and provide insight into a world of self reliance, interacting with nature, and venturing into a place of solitude. Nevertheless, sometimes an easy tendency arises in which one places Thoreau on a pedestal and only takes Thoreau’s works at face value when the work itself may contain fallacies. Thoreau’s literary work of “Civil Disobedience” remains highly regarded in society; however, his work contradicts
You can see just how important non-conformity is in Thoreau’s life because he is willing to be thrown in jail for it. In act one whilst Thoreau and Bailey are discussing why they are in jail Thoreau says this, “But we’ve got a President who went out and boomed up a war all by himself – with no help from Congress and less help from me.” (pg. 11) What Henry is referring to here is the fact that he did not pay his taxes to help support a war he does not support himself. Everyone else in society is paying their taxes, but Henry will not conform to that. Thoreau is not refusing to pay taxes
The reason that Socrates and Thoreau can arrive at such disparate conclusions from essentially the same premise. is that the ancient Greek idea of justice is not on idea of morality or conscience, it is based on honor and shame. All wrongs are reflected back by society (or the "majority"), the reason Socrates does not escape of jail is not because he believes it is wrong, but because he would lose all social status, and be cast out of Athens, never to return. Thoreau believes however that right and wrong do not come from what the "majority" believes to be shameful, but from a sense from within. Thoreau believes that each individual has a moral obligation to decide right from wrong for himself, and to act according to that without regard for law, shame, honor, or punishment.
In his treatise ‘On the duty of civil disobedience’ Henry David Thoreau, explicitly calls for the preference of individual
I strongly believe that happiness is already the case. We are happiness itself. Now, what is the point of pursuing something which is already the case? One day I remember that I lost my pen. I looked everywhere in my room, but I could not find it. “It is on your head trapped within the hairs; have you gone mad?” my friend said. Many times it happens to every one of us. We look things far away while they are within our reach. Hence, look within the reach; do not travel far away in the world. Genuine happiness is a language which the blind can see, the deaf can hear and the disabled can learn without
Going to college has multiple positive outcomes. In the article, “Next Time Someone Says ‘College isn’t Worth it,’ Show Them This,” written by, Kevin short, it states “People with bachelor’s degrees make around $300,000 more over their lifetimes than those with just a high school education...” By going to college, you get the opportunity to receive higher paying jobs than those that just went to high school. Short also stated, “... to make up the costs of getting a bachelor’s degree… Today it takes on average 10 years.” The amount of time it takes college graduates has lessened 15 years in the past 48 years. As time goes on, the amount of time it takes to repay college debts will continue to lessen. Some people worry about the cost the most.
Sure, going to college is expensive but a degree does not only help you it also helps your future employer because they are getting a well-trained and educated worker to help them in whatever field they are in. Getting a good job with a degree can help you start a family because you wouldn’t be so tight with money and it further helps you in whatever career that you wish to pursue so someday you might even be an
Happiness is an inner state of well-being and fulfilment, and therefore it has to come from inside. Every individual has his or her own emotions and way of thinking and as a result of this no one can really say what happiness is and what happiness is not. However, universally, happiness is a by-product of a healthy attitude and viewpoint. Happiness exists in everyone whether they choose to acknowledge and believe it or not. It is not rare nor is it something only the elite have: everyone has it but not everyone recognizes it. Contentment is finding a light at the end of every dark tunnel and in order to experience this we must ignore the pessimism surrounding us and remind ourselves that happiness is not a materialistic object but a choice and frame of mind.
What does it mean to be happy? Happiness is a sensation that people want to have, and a lot of it. Above all else in the world, it’s what we seek and long for. Though this feeling can be found in many different places and at many different times, it isn’t easy to acquire. For some people, happiness might be found in exercise and sustaining good health. On the other hand, others can discover it when they go on vacation and relax. The idea here is that we each have our own things that make us happy.