Essay on Choosing to Be Happy - 2090 Words

â€Å"Choose to be happy.† This is what mom has always said, since a very young age and still to this day she tells everyone. For so long, it was just â€Å"mom talk†, those things your mother says that is supposed to make you stop and think. Yet, being too young, dumb and full of it, to really understand what she means. Curiosity emerges and suddenly there is a need to understand what it really means to be happy, what constitutes Happiness? So follow up with some research, entering the bookstore, gliding in and out of the rows and rows in the self-help sections are others, asking the same question. What is happiness? Where does it come from, are we born with it or do we make it happen? Happiness is but a belief, an idea, a theory; but theories,†¦show more content†¦Book 1, Ch 9). His concept is directed to an action, suggesting that there are choices with in each action and the end should be good. There are many â€Å"goods† to find in our lives, thi ngs which are intrinsically good and things which are good as being conductive to the intrinsically good. The collective good is derived through virtuous choices. Virtue, then, assists man in obtaining pleasure and is also a form of character not a talent or desire. Aristotles view is that one cannot learn moral virtue; it is always both an external action and an internal characteristic. Since it must be internal as well as external, to be genuine virtues must be a matter of habit sustained over an entire lifetime. Virtuous choices lead to happiness, the highest of all goods achievable by action Aristotle (Ostwald, 1999, pp. Book 1, ch 4), Aristotle views happiness as the highest goal of life. So is he saying that we need to be good for our whole life before we can achieve happiness? Being morally virtuous is a way of leading a happy life. By not stealing, or killing, or lying; one can be content to know that he is good and this will bringing happiness. But can this lead to its ab solute definition, can some live a life without lie. If put in a situation where it was a necessity to lie in order to save a life, is it possible to find happiness even though you are notShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Happiness713 Words   |  3 Pageslife today, you can still choose to be happy. By choosing to be unhappy you put yourself in a sorrowful and melancholia mindset, which isnt good for your mental and physical health. First and foremost, attitude is a huge factor in choosing to be happy. A good attitude and look on life creates happiness in our lives. If we have a bad attitude, nothing will ever make you happy. Many people take different extremes to make themselves feel happy. Some people choose drugs and alcohol,Read MoreUtilitarianism By John Stuart Mill930 Words   |  4 Pagesnever want to go back to choosing the lower pleasure except in extreme circumstances. For example someone might get pleasure from eating McDonalds, but one day they decide to go to chipotle instead and find out that they like it much better than McDonalds. The next time that person is hungry and having to choose between McDonalds and Chipotle they are going to go with Chipotle because it brought them more pleasure than McDonalds did. Even when the consequences of choosing Chipotle are greater thanRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1675 Words   |  7 Pagescharacters follow when choosing their mate s. In today’s society, most couples still follow these criteria and more when choosing their ideal mate. What are these important criteria that Austen’s characters consider when choosing a mate? 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As the manager, I want to make sure that all of my employees are safe. I want to really hear them out and their reasoning before making any further decisions. After hearing what they have to say and their concerns I am open to working out an agreementRead MoreChristianity And Politics : God Versus The City Of Man1426 Words   |  6 Pagesof law can be seen in accord with the rule of God which emphasizes the great debate of the City of God versus the City of Man. Augustine believes that Christianity is needed for a healthy life because obtaining peace is difficult. In establishing a happy life, hope is necessary which can be achieved through God. Augustine asserts that there are insufficiencies in living a pagan way of life to achieve happiness. There are three ways of life which are leisure, busy, and a combination of both. LeisureRead More`` Happy Endings `` By Margaret Atwood934 Words   |  4 Pageslife and happy endings. 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For example, the children in Africa have little to nothing and they are sill satisfied, they choose to be happy. They may not have much food orRead MoreAristotle Think Made A Good Life849 Words   |  4 Pagesused, one can understand that Aristotle found that to be happy one needs to have ethics, morality, and virtue, but also needs to have balance, proportion and harmony in all of the t hings that they do. One still needs to find out how to find or be those things. How does one know that they have balance and harmony in their life? How does one know that they possess virtue, ethics, or morality? In other words, how do they know if they are happy? In Philosophy Made Simple it states â€Å"In order to achieve