Envy destroys the opportunity to feel peace and happiness, in order words, envy destroys bliss. Some people are well accomplished with all their basic needs meet, have great relationships, and a pretty decent life. However, they consume themselves in envy of those who look better, wealthier, and have greater relationships, what a waste of happiness. Envy leaves them depressed, and makes them lack peace of mind. A person who lacks peace of mind is an unhappy person. Being depressed affects people’s thought, actions, and sense of wellbeing in a negative way. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher stated that, “Happiness depends on ourselves,” envy has a lot of impact on people’s actions, and what controls their actions, their state of mind. Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher, said that envy is the cause of unhappiness. Although envy is viewed negativity, he also believed that envy can be a positive thing, envy was the driving force behind the movement of democracy. Physiologist later concluded that there are two types of envy, malicious envy, and benign envy- a positive type, which is motivational forces. However envy is always going to cause a lack of peace of mind. Even the benign envy makes you lack peace of mind because you want to gain what someone else have, and if you do not gain it, it might leave you feel depressed. Envy is an emotion, which "occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.” Being envious of what other people have can be a great source of unhappiness.
In the Geography of bliss by Eric Weiner, Eric went to different places including Swiss. Swiss is one of the happiest places in the world’s database of happiness. And ...
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...dmire failure, and there country is the one of the happiest nation. Moldovans gets into all the negative sides of Envy, and one of the reasons Moldova is a miserable country. Moldovans say they are unhappy for one reason: money. They don't have enough of it, especially compared to other European countries. So, envy is a big problem; the Moldovans feel like they are at the bottom of the heap and disgruntled about the success of others. As Eric said, "Even the name sounds melancholy. Moldooooova. Try it. Notice how your jaw droops reflexively and your shoulders slouch, Eyesore-like. (Unlike 'Jamaica,' which is impossible to say without smiling.)" (pg. 186)
Works Cited
"Envy." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Weiner, Eric. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World. New York: Twelve, 2008. Print.
Many people value the tangible over the complex. However, viewing the world solely through this definite lens is an oversimplification. Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We explores this flaw in a society founded solely upon its government’s definition of the “ultimate happiness.” To reach utopia, it eliminates inefficiency, crime, and despondency, by promoting state-led happiness. Despite these admirable goals, the One State’s methods sacrifice freedom, individualism, and, ironically, happiness itself, ultimately failing its mission. Zamyatin explores the emotionless routine within the One State to assert that happiness cannot exist when controlled and rationalized.
Weiner, Eric. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World.
In Thomas De Quincey's essay "Confessions of an English Opium Eater," the speaker discusses the problems associated with drugs. He suggests that his "dreams were accompanied by deep-seated anxiety and gloomy melancholy, such as are wholly incommunicable by words" (971). However, sadness and gloom do not belong exclusively to addicts as Shelley points out in his poem "To a Skylark." The everyday man also faces the same problem as De Quincey's opium eater as human beings have a tendency to focus on life's sadness. In his poem, Shelley uses the joyous skylark as a contrast to man in order to express the idea that human beings live a seeming unfulfilled life as any pleasure found in life also comes with unhappiness.
Throughout Eric Weiner's entire quest to places of genius located in various parts of the world, the author of Geography of Genius asked many important questions; however, perhaps the most important question he would ask would be if there was a reason why certain places throughout history had so many geniuses. Weiner would pursue the answer to this questions through results of research already conducted, and through the intake of personal experience as he explored the depths of these ex-creativity-hotspots. He discovered that many creative settings had one or more central conflicts serving as obstacles to daily life and that they were never these paradise-like places we might associate them to be. In the end, his conclusion of why certain locations
Tony Hiss Author of The Experience of Place brings to our attention that as humans “We react, consciously or unconsciously, to the places where we live and work, in ways we scarcely notice or that are only now becoming known to us…In short, the places where we spend our time affect the people we are and can become.” Place defines characteristics in both human and extended moral communities. Place is not necessarily specific to gender, race, generation or specie. This understanding and recognition of place is fundamental when thinking about institutionalizing ecological and social responsibility.
”The greatest misery in adverse fortune is once to have been happy.” The idea that happiness was once attained and lost is a bitter sweet realization for any human who has experienced it. Fortune is acquired but it will be snatched away as quickly as it was bestowed upon one. When Boethius mourns the loss of his own fortune Lady Philosophy tries to reconcile with him. Attempting to “cure” Boethius of his ailments, she tells him that his current predicament is actually an act of good fortune. With Boethius sitting in prison awaiting his execution, it is understandable to see why he would have a tough time accepting it as good fortune. However, Philosophy has a way with words.
Over many years, people have attempted to seek out what happiness truly is and how it can be obtained. It could be described as a feeling, a goal, or a state of mind. The definition of happiness can vary depending on the individual, race; even the religion someone follows can influence what happiness is to them. In Roko Belics documentary Happy, we see many different examples of happiness from people living in diverse parts of the world and what it means to them. Whether it’s a poor father from India transporting passengers on his bicycle making pennies on the dollar, or a successful business man on Wall Street living in New York with a six figure salary, happiness can come to anyone no matter how different their lifestyles are. I agree with
Early Modern Europe experienced several tragedies in which the citizens sensed that there must be a better way to live where happiness was more familiar. Alterations for what truly defines absolute happiness in a society during these times of catastrophe were expressed through utopian literature. Thomas More’s Utopia, Tomasso Campanella’s City of the Sun, and Caron De Beaumarchais’ The Marriage of Figaro together attempt to answer what truly creates a happy civilization during different periods of crisis within Europe. Each of these utopian literature’s suggest a different origin that happiness derives from, soundly signifying that change in Europe would be beneficial. The revolutionary ideas of change in Europe proposed by Utopia, City of the Sun, and The Marriage of Figaro through their individual utopias, demonstrated their beliefs that such change of social classes, the expression of pleasures morally, and a more unified government would lead to a happier, less corrupt society.
Domosh, Mona, Roderick Neumann, Patricia Price, and Terry Jordan-Bychkov. The Human Mosaic: A Cultural Approach to Human Geography. 11thth ed. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 2010. N. pag. Print.
“Happiness lies, first of all, in health,” write by George William Curtis, is a good quote to explain the relationship between health and happiness. So, what makes you feel happiness? A lot of people think happiness is when they become a billionaire, drive a super sport car, have a life as a king, or etc. Such as my younger brother, his happiness is he can travel around the world, has a lot of money and drives a Lamborghini car. I think my young brother and a lot of people were right because wealthy, famous, or power can bring happiness for people, but that is just a little and ephemeral happiness that is not as bigger and longer as people thought. “All the money in the world can’t buy you good health, complete with a sound mind, and spirit
..., a person who earns $25,000 is happier than a person who makes $125,000 and an employee who makes $500,000 is only slightly happier than someone who makes $55,000. Lastly, there are more important things in life that and make you happy, for example, friends. They don’t come with a price tag, and if they do, you definitely need new friends. Money won’t make you happy since good times can’t be bought. You don’t need a fancy vacation to have a good time; it’s just a matter of who you spend it with. Over the years, humans have blown the value of money way out of proportion. People make it seem like if you’re not filthy rich, then you won’t live a good life but it’s not true. You can lack money and yet still live a perfect, happy life.
Happiness can be viewed as wealth, honour, pleasure, or virtue. Aristotle believes that wealth is not happiness, because wealth is just an economic value, but can be used to gain some happiness; wealth is a means to further ends. The good life, according to Aristotle, is an end in itself. Similar to wealth, honour is not happiness because honour emphases on the individuals who honour in comparison to the honouree. Honour is external, but happiness is not. It has to do with how people perceive one another; the good life is intrinsic to the...
“Happiness is involved in a deep sense of purpose in life,” quoted Mike Steere in Pursuit of Happiness. But, how exactly does happiness play a purpose in life? The answer lies within you. Only you know what your happiness is and what it does for you. Happiness lies within me in several ways. Happiness definitely plays a major role at this point of my life.
According to Buddha, “Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think.” To be happy, one must know what happiness is and then find aspects that make them feel that way. Happiness is not a brief sense of positive feelings, but a lasting sense of contentedness that can be achieved by keeping close relationships and engaging in habits that seem contradictory at first to happiness.
“I’m the one that has to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life, they the way I want to” (Jimi Hendrix). We need to live our lives to the fullest every day we live because we never know when we might die. Doing what we please and being content will achieve our fulfillment. Happiness comes from within and it is how we see our world and say that it is good enough for us. I am a extremely positive person and tend to have no regrets. That is why fulfillment and happiness is the theme of my life.