Pleasures are easy enough to get,
but this safe state of happiness, full of rich positive worth, and
immune from pain both in action and in moments of retrospect, is far
from easy. Hence it is better to use the word "happiness" for our goal
than the word "pleasure." Carlyle, however, takes "happiness" in the
lower sense and rejects it in favor of what he calls "blessedness."
This gives him the advantage of seeming to have a new and superior
theory. But when we ask what "blessedness" is, it is apparent that
it can be nothing but what we call "happiness" or the living of life
in such a way as to lead to happiness.
(4) There is another important practical insight underlying the
protests of Carlyle and those of his ilk, namely, that it pays to
disregard the minor ills and discomforts of life and keep our thoughts
fixed on the big things. These minor ills do not matter much as they
pass; they are transient, and usually leave little pain for reflection.
It is the fear of them, the complaining about them, the shrinking from
them, the attending to them, that constitutes the greater part of their
badness. Carlyle has the same practical common sense that the Christian
Scientists show; but, as in their case, he lets his practical wisdom
confuse his theoretical insight.
Sympathize, then, as we all must with these anti-happiness preachers,
we may point out that their intuitions are quite compatible with a
sane view of the ultimate meaning of morality.
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