YOUR MIND AND HOW TO USE IT/PART 19
CHAPTER XIX.
The Emotions and Happiness.
"HAPPINESS"
has been defined by an authority as "the pleasurable emotion arising from
the gratification of all desires; the enjoyment of pleasure without pain."
Another has said that "happiness is the state in which all desires are
satisfied." But these definitions have been attacked. It is held by many
that a state of the absolute satisfaction of desire would not
be happiness, for happiness consists largely in pleasurable anticipation and
imaginings which disappear upon the realization of the desire. It is held that
absolute satisfaction would be a negative state. Paley expressed a better idea
when he said that "any condition may be denominated 'happy' in which the
amount or aggregate of pleasure exceeds that of pain, and the degree of
happiness depends upon the quantity of this excess."
Some
have held that an existing contrast between pain and pleasure (the balance
being in favor of the latter) is necessary to establish happiness. Be this as
it may, it is admitted by all that one's happiness or unhappiness depends
entirely upon one's emotional nature and the degree of the satisfaction
thereof. And it is generally admitted that to be happy is the great aim and
object of the life of the majority of persons,—if, indeed, not of every person,—the
happiness, of course, depending upon the quality and degree of the emotions
forming the person's emotional nature. Thus it is seen that we are dependent
upon the emotional side of our mental life in this as in nearly everything else
making life worth while.
Theologians
have often sought to point out that happiness is not the goal of life and
living, but human nature has always insisted that happiness is the greatest
end, and philosophy has generally supported it. But wisdom shows that happiness
is not always dependent upon the pleasure of the moment, for the sacrifice of
immediate pleasure frequently results in a much greater happiness in the
future. In the same way an immediate disagreeable task often gains for us a greater
satisfaction in the future. Likewise, it is frequently greater happiness to
sacrifice a personal pleasure for the happiness of others than it would be to
enjoy the pleasure of the moment at the expense of the pain of the other. There
is often a far greater pleasure resulting from an altruistic action of
self-sacrifice than in the performance of the selfish, egoistic act. But, as
the subtle reasoner may insist, the result is the same—the ultimate happiness
and satisfaction of the self. This conclusion does not rob the altruistic act
of its virtue, however, for the person who finds his greatest pleasure in
giving pleasure to others is to be congratulated—as is the community which
shelters him.
There
is no virtue in pain, suffering, sacrifice, or unhappiness for its own
sake. This illusion of asceticism is vanishing from the human mind.
Sacrifice on the part of the individual is valuable and valid only when it
results in higher present or future happiness for the individual or some one
else. There is no virtue in pain, physical or mental, except as a step to a
greater good for ourselves or others. Pain at the best is merely nature's alarm
and warning of "not this way." It is also held that pain serves to
bring out pleasure by contrast, and is therefore valuable in this way. Be this
as it may, no normal individual deliberately seeks ultimate pain in preference
to ultimate happiness; the greatest ultimate happiness to one's self and to
those he loves is the normal and natural goal of the normal person. But the
concept of "those he loves," in many cases, includes the race as well
as the immediate family.
Wisdom
shows the individual that the greatest happiness comes to him who controls and
restrains many of his feelings. Dissipation results in pain and unhappiness
ultimately. The doctrine of thoughtless indulgence is unphilosophical and
is contradicted by the experience of the race. Moreover, wisdom shows that the
highest happiness comes not from the indulgence of the physical feelings alone,
or to excess, but rather from the cultivation, development, and manifestation
of the higher feelings—the social, æsthetic, and intellectual emotions. The
higher pleasures of life, literature, art, music, science, invention,
constructive imagination, etc., yield a satisfaction and happiness keener and
more enduring than can possibly the lower forms of feeling. But the human being
must not despise any part of his emotional being. Everything has its uses,
which are good; and its abuses, which are bad. Every part of one's being,
mental and physical, is well to use; but no part is well used if it uses the
individual instead of being itself used.
A
recent writer has held that the end and aim of life should not be the pursuit
of happiness, but rather the building of character. The obvious answer is that
the two are identical in spirit, for to the man who appreciates the value of
character, its attainment is the greatest happiness; the wise teach that the
greatest happiness comes to him who is possessed of a well-rounded, developed
character. Another writer has said that "the aim of life should be
self-improvement, with a due regard to the interest of others." This is
but saying that the greatest happiness to the wise man lies in this
course. Any one who is wise enough, or great enough, to make these ends the aim
and goal of life will find the greatest happiness therefrom. Arnold Bennett
advances as a good working philosophy of life: "cheerfulness, kindliness,
and rectitude." Can any one doubt that this course would bring great ultimate
happiness?
Happiness
consists in that which "contents the spirit," and the latter depends
entirely upon the character of the feelings and emotions entertained by one, as
weighed in the balance of reason, and as passed upon by judgment and the sense
of right action. The greatest degree of happiness, or at least the greatest
ratio of pleasure over pain, is obtained by a careful and intelligent
cultivation of the feeling side of one's being in connection with the
cultivation of the intellect and the mastery of the will. To be able to bring
the capacity for enjoyment to its highest; to be able to intelligently choose
that which will bring the greatest ultimate happiness in accordance with right
action; and, finally, to be able to use the will in the direction of holding
fast to that which is good and rejecting that which is bad—this is the power of
creating happiness. The feelings, the intellect, and the will—here, as
ever—combine to manifest the result.
Finally,
it must be remembered that all human happiness consists in part of the ability
to bear pain—to suffer. There must be the dash of Stoicism in the wise
Epicurean. One must learn to pluck from pain, suffering, and unhappiness the
secret drop of honey which lies at its heart, and which consists in the knowledge
of the meaning and use of pain and the means whereby it may be transmuted into
knowledge and experience, from which later happiness may be distilled. To
profit by pain, to transmute suffering into joy, to transform present
unhappiness into a future greater happiness—this is the privilege of the
philosopher.
The
mental states and activities known as "desire" are a direct
development of the feeling and emotional phase of the mind and form the motive
power of the will. Desire, in fact, may be said to be composed of feeling on
one side and will on the other. But the influence of the intellect or reasoning
faculties has a most important part to play in the evolution of feeling into
desire, and in the consequent action of the will by the presentation and
weighing of conflicting desires. Therefore, the logical place for the
consideration of the activities of the intellect is at this point—between
emotion and will. Accordingly, we shall leave the subject of feeling and
emotion for the present, to be taken up
again in connection with the subject of desire, after
we have considered the intellectual processes of the mind. But, as has been
indicated, we shall see the presence and influence of the feelings and emotions
even in the activities of the intellect.
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