Page 4 - DIVA_7_2004_No.16

Editorial
L

he search of happiness seems to be the ultimate goal in our
T society. "If you have a recipe on how to make people happy,
write a book and share your thoughts with others,' a friend
said to me the other day.

Philosophers throughout the ages have spent days, years, sometimes
even a lifetime looking into the matter. If a golden rule existed, I'm
sure that it would have already been discovered a long time ago by
one of these wise people, and that most probably every single per-
son would now live in total happiness everywhere on the globe.
He who sings frightens away
However, being puzzled by this quest for happiness, I started to look into the matter, and the different
his ills.
ways to acquire it ... They are quite numerous, and they cover all aspects of life ... Here comes a small
selection Cervantes
A Chinese proverb says: "If you want happiness for an hour-take a nap. If you want happiness for a Of cheerfulness, or a good
day-go fishing. If you want happiness for a month-get married. If you want happiness for a year-inhe-
temper-the more it is spent,
rit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime-help someone else." So it is all a matter of choice
and priorities. If this does not help, let's move on to the next one the more of it remains.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Helen Keller put it this way: 'Many people have the wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It
is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." What is a worthy
purpose? It can be everything as long as you feel that you are doing something useful for you and the The supreme happiness of
others around you. life is the conviction that we
are loved.
A friend gets up every morning at 5 o'clock in order to write. She says: "I have to get some writing
done before I'm off to work". So there she sits early in the morning in front of her computer writing
and she is happy. Others paint, some read ... A painter friend told me that while painting he was
in a world of his own: "Un moment de bonheur totale." Experience praises the most
happy, the one who made
It seems that no universal rule exists on how to acquire happiness. Perhaps the morality is to do the
the most people happy.
things you like to do, and to just do it. Douglas Jerrold (a famous contributor to the satirical magazi-
Karl Marx
ne Punch in the nineteenth century) put it this way: "Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not
to be picked in strangers' gardens." So, once more, there is not much help to get, apart from ... this is
something you have to figure out for yourself. To accept what you are is to
be content, and contentment
If all this does not make us any wiser, perhaps we should just simply follow the advice of
is the greatest wealth.
William Bennett (one of America's leading intellectuals on social and cultural issues):
To work with patience is to 1
"Happiness is like a cat. If you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you; it will never come. But
gather power.
if you do not pay any attention to it and go about your business, you'll find it rubbing against
Vimalia McClure
your legs and jumping into your lap." So the morality is, don't wait for it, when the moment is
due, it will arrive. In the meantime keep on moving
Success is getting and
Finally, the only thing I can say is: "I wish you all the joy that you can wish" (William achieving what you want.
Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice). And don't forget: "Happiness is like a kiss. You must Happiness is wanting and
share it to enjoy it" (Douglas Jerrold). being content with what you
Have a nice day
get.
Marit
Bernard Meltzer

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