Book Freak #103: Bertrand Russell's Guide to Happiness
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One of my favorite all-time quotes is from mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1972): “Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so.” In this issue of Book Freak, I’m including four pieces of advice from Russell’s book: The Conquest of Happiness.
Don’t take yourself so seriously
“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.”
Don’t care too much about what others think of you
“One should as a rule 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.”
Be without some of the things you want
“The man who acquires easily things for which he feels only a very moderate desire concludes that the attainment of desire does not bring happiness. If he is of a philosophic disposition, he concludes that human life is essentially wretched, since the man who has all he wants is still unhappy. He forgets that to be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.”
Follow this two-step guide to happiness
“The secret of happiness is very simply this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.”
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