The Conquest of Happiness

In The Conquest of Happiness, first published by Liveright in 1930, iconoclastic philosopher Bertrand Russell attempted to diagnose the myriad causes of unhappiness in modern life and chart a path out of the seemingly inescapable malaise so prevalent even in safe and prosperous Western societies. More than eighty years later, Russell’s wisdom remains as true as it was on its initial release. Eschewing guilt-based morality, Russell lays out a rationalist prescription for living a happy life, including the importance of cultivating interests outside oneself and the dangers of passive pleasure. In this new edition, best-selling philosopher Daniel C. Dennett reintroduces Russell to a new generation, stating that Conquest is both “a fascinating time capsule” and “a prototype of the flood of self-help books that have more recently been published, few of them as well worth reading today as Russell’s little book.”

Quotes and thoughts while reading:

Whew, reading this, after reading about Mindfulness is a full on game of tug of war for the brain. Russell says it is dangerous to draw inwards, and that we should fill our time to not be alone in our thoughts, and mindfulness says exactly the opposite. There are some rather large grains of salt to take, but let's explore some of the things I thought were interesting that were brought up.

"Interest in oneself, on the contrary, leads to no activity of a progressive kind. It may lead to the keeping of a diary, to getting psychoanalyzed, or perhaps to becoming a monk. But the monk will not be happy until the routine of the monastery has made him forget his own soul." (p 25) Here Russell is talking about not focusing on your own "sins, follies, and shortcomings" in meditation, and how one must learn to be "indifferent to [himself] and [his own] deficiencies"(p 25). And while I agree that we should no focus only on the aspects of ourselves that need work, we should celebrate our own personal successes from time to time, I feel like the pursuit he lays out here is dangerous. It is the free-time filling attitude of our time. Oh, your upset, don't give yourself time to think about what has made you upset, just begin something new, and that thing that could sit in the back of your mind and fester will merely wash away. No, I don't think this is a healthy way to live.

"[Man] forgets that to be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness." (p 34)

"There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it." (p 54)

"The desire for excitement is very deep-seated in human being, especially in males." (p 58) This is not the first time Russell makes a statement that is blatantly limited by the period in time this book was written.

"Imagine the monotony of winter in a medieval village. People could not read or write, they had only candles to give them light after dark, the smoke of their one fire filled the only room that was not bitterly cold. Roads were practically impassable, so that one hardly ever saw anybody from another village. It must have been boredom as much as anything that led to the practice of witch hunts as the sole sport by which winter evenings could be enlivened." (p 59)

"For all these reasons a generation that cannot endure boredom will be a generation of little men, of men unduly divorced from the slow processes of nature, of men whom every vital impulse slowly withers, as though they were cut flowers in a vase." (p 64)

"I do not suggest that a man should set apart, say, an hour a day for self-examination. This is to my mind by no means the best method, since it increases self-absorption, which is part of the disease to be cured, for a harmonious personality is directed outward." (p 100) Oh man, we were so close. I thought I could reconcile Russell with mindfulness by talking about how mindfulness is all about decreasing self-absorption, but again, I feel like Russell is talking about a life with almost no inner reflection, and an abundance of external stimuli. If Russell had read about mindfulness I wonder what he would have thought. I do think it is important to not be a narcissist, to be completely self involved, but I do feel that check-ins are important.

"do you produce because you feel an urgent compulsion to express certain ideas or feelings, or are you actuated by the desire for applause?" (p 112)

"One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways." (p 125)

There is an interesting discussion on p 134 about scientists vs artists. When an artist creates a poem or picture, and the public does not understand it, it is considered to be a bad poem or picture. But when a scientist, creates say the general theory of relativity, and the public does not understand it, the public concludes that their education has been insufficient. I think that's interesting.

"But with the introduction of agriculture mankind has entered upon the long period of meanness, misery, and madness, from which they are only now being freed by the beneficient operation of the machine." (p 139) This goes along with a general theory I have seen discussed other places which places big ag as the downfall of mankind, and the beginning of our destructive, world changing tenure on the planet. Also, I think we are still living in a time of meanness, misery, and madness, even with machines.

The entire affection chapter is a hammer to my nailhead. "He becomes an introvert, melancholy at first, but seeking ultimately the unreal consolations of some system of philosophy or theology." (p 162) Why do I read so much? Why have I tried to grow through books and written word, am I seeking some grand philosophical answer? "Many people when they fall in love look for a little haven of refuge from the world, where they can be sure of being admired when they are not admirable, and praised when they are not praise-worthy... it is their fears and their timidities that make them enjoy their companionship in which these feelings are put to rest." (p 163)

"Of all the forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps most fatal to true happiness." (p 168)

Russell asserts that "The most civilized are the most sterile; the least civilized are the most fertile; and between the two there is a continual gradation. At present the most intelligent sections of the Western nations are dying out." (p 176) Whoa there Bertrand, whoa there.

"all equal relationships at which the modern world aims [requires] a certain delicacy and tenderness, a certain reverence for another personality, which are by no means encouraged by the pugnacity of ordinary life." (p 182)

"A man who has once perceived, however temporarily and however briefly, what makes greatness of soul, can no longer be happy if he allows himself to be petty, self-seeking, troubled by trivial misfortunes, dreading what fate may have in store for him. The man capable of greatness of soul will open wide the windows of his mind, letting the winds blow freely upon it from every portion of the universe. He will see himself and life and the world as truly as our human limitations will permit; realizing the brevity and minuteness of human life, he will realize also that in individual minds is concentrated whatever of value the known universe contains. And he will see that the man whose mind mirrors the world becomes in a sense as great as the world. In emancipation from the fears that beset the slave of circumstance he will experience a profound joy, and through all the vicissitudes of his outward life he will remain in the depths of his being a happy man." (p 204)

"The wise man fails to observe the dust that the housemaid has not dusted, the potato that the cook has not cooked, and the soot that the sweep has not swept. I do not mean that he takes no steps to remedy these matters, provided he has time to do so, I mean only that he deals with them without emotion. Worry and fret and irritation are emotions which serve no purpose." (p 213)