Posted by John Britt

Quote of the Day


“I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”

Leo Rosten


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Comments

Dan Finnegan said…
Why would he think that the two are mutually exclusive? Doing all he suggests would make one happy, nes pas?
March 7, 2013 at 10:00 PM
Barbara Rogers said…
I think that's a bit Puritanical...vs those hedonistic others. I'm with Dan. See you Wed. at 6:30 in Black Mountain, all you Clay Clubbers!
March 8, 2013 at 10:40 AM
John Britt said…
Well, I guess he means that you can strive to be happy as your ultimate goal without doing any of those things. (e.g. hedonist; happiness =pleasure)

The by-product of being useful, responsible, compassionate and to stand for something might result in happiness but that is not the purpose of doing them.

March 8, 2013 at 11:34 AM
Nelle Fastman Pingree said…
It's a very Jewish thing that happiness is not a goal,although it can be a by product of the way you live your life. John, you are correct!!! Rosten, who wrote the Joys of Yiddish, is very much influenced by the thought that we are to be joyous and grateful as a matter of being, not as something to which you aspire. We aspire to be good. Even at the New Year, we wish each other a good new year, not a happy new year.
March 8, 2013 at 8:31 PM
John Britt said…
He has a bunch of other great quotes on the site too.
March 8, 2013 at 8:37 PM
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