Happiness is one of the great themes that makes our lives better. It’s a motivation to commit toward something to keep the feeling active. Whether it’s getting high on substances, making money, or even having enough to get by, Americans desire happiness in one form or another. Walter Mosley, author of, “Be Happy”, expresses his opinion in his article, towards who is responsible for one’s happiness. His confidence lies on believing that it’s an individual's complete obligation to be content with themselves and not anyone else’s. He suggests that the following statement, "the pursuit of happiness is an ‘unalienable right’.”, in the Declaration of Independence, claims that the government is responsible for ensuring most to all Americans’ path to happiness. I believe that the happiness of the American people, should be partly dependant upon by the individuals themselves, and by the government. It builds upon the approach a person has towards everything, but also Uncle Sam initially, pledged to attempt to satisfy the people of America. …show more content…
A person’s happiness can have an impact on others. People can get agitated because a group or individual is at peace or sons and daughter can be happy as a result of witnessing their parents being content. Delightment is capable of encouraging expansion of one’s knowledge. For instance, if one realizes their potential in achieving greatness in a certain subject, the satisfaction could lead to desiring to draw in more knowledge, knowing the greatness that individual can achieve. Someone who is depressed doesn’t have the motivation to achieve something positive. There are people that misinterpret or have a negative pleasure and peace of mind. That’s the incredible potential happiness
The American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.The Declaration of Independence protects your opportunity to improve your life, no matter who you are.It boldly proclaims: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.ur Founding Fathers introduced the revolutionary idea that each person's desire to pursue their idea of happiness was not self-indulgence, but a necessary driver of a prosperous society. They created a government to defend that right for everyone. The pursuit of happiness became the driver of the entrepreneurial spirit that defines the American free market economy.After the 1920s, many Presidents supported the idea of the Dream as a pursuit of material benefits. President Roosevelt outlined an Economic Bill of Rights in his 1944 State of the Union address. He defined the pursuit of happiness as decent housing, a good
The pursuit of happiness has an interesting collection of meanings behind it. Americans are free to become whatever they want to be. To study what interests a person is what makes them happy. Once something deeply interests a person, he or she is drawn in to want to learn more about it. Pursuing a career that is related to someone’s likes is the essence of what can make a person content. To choose to or not to have a family is a personal decision that Americans are allowed to make. One person might enjoy living alone while another likes having the company of family. Creating a family is a pursuit of happiness for certain people, but for others, living alone is peaceful and a comfortable way of living. How one chooses to live is a choice made pertaining to the normal routine of daily life. One might watch television with dinner or sit his or her family down to have a meal together. While one person enjoys exercising regularly, another could be perfectly happy with the use of electronic devices daily. A home might be clean and organized or messy and scattered; it is the choice of the home owner. The pursuit of happiness is made up of different components depending on the
On July 4th, 1776 our founding father's got together to create, “The Declaration of Independence” One of the quotes that benefit all U.S. citizens is that all people living in the United States are entitled to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Life, meaning every person has the right to live, to literally be alive. Liberty, meaning every person has the right to be whatever they choose, and to live their life however they want. The Pursuit of Happiness, meaning every person has the right to pursue happiness and do whatever makes them happy. These are inalienable rights that can never be taken away. John Locke is the person that created the phrase “The Pursuit of Happiness”, but Thomas Jefferson is the person that thought it was a good idea to put that in The Declaration of Independence. What does this phrase mean for us today? What did it mean for people in the past? What was
According to another source, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” Andrew Sullivan stated, “I believe in the pursuit of happiness. Not its attainment, nor its final definition, but it's pursuit” (Doc B). People need to work for their happiness. The United States gives people many opportunities to pursue whatever they would like.
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is every person’s god given right, but what exactly is happiness? Americans have fallen in love with the idea of success, we fantasize about cars, clothes and caviar. We want to be living the high life, but the only way to access the high life is to work for it. To climb the ladder of success till you get to the summit. It’s the American Dream, but that’s just it, it’s nothing but a dream, a fantasy. The reality of life is a boring and stressful existence where many of us are just struggling to make a few dollars. It would suffice to say that the American Dream is in all actuality the American Nightmare. The American Nightmare is a pitiful existence inside a self-made
The pursuit of happiness is unlimited happiness, and not happiness that goes away quickly. Pursuit of happiness is a right that everyone has, and it is obtained by the enforcement of power in the Declaration of Independence.
From the beginning of our lives, our parents, for the most part, want us to be happy. Pursuing that happiness becomes a goal that we strive for on an everyday basis. In America, it’s the American Dream. People come to this country in search of that elusive happiness. Ever since Thomas Jefferson wrote a very important sentence in our Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson), our goals have been the same; searching for that happiness no matter what. However, as Ray Bradbury writes, if we focus too much on those aspects that make us
Happiness is a key to everybodys life. Even the most depressed man on earth has a little happiness deep down inside. Its what keeps us striving to fulfil our needs and wants on an everyday basis. There is not one kid who does not get excited over a dollar to spend at the candy shop. What about the feeling of getting a promotion at your job, or even finding the cure for cancer. Being happy is not just healthy, but it is also rewarding for each and every individual. We strive to find anything that will turn a bad day to a good one. Individuals will compromise to attain their happiness. You can not get what you want without giving something first.
Everyone defines happiness differently, but everyone needs happiness. The book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse talks about how Siddhartha finds happiness through many ways. He leaves home and his friend, Govinda, to find enlightenment. He starves himself, he learns love, he even thinks of suicide… Fortunately, he meets a ferryman, who becomes his best friend, also his “teacher”, and helps him find the ultimate way to achieve enlightenment. Siddhartha abandons his relationships, money, and education which bring him happiness, and in the twenty first century, these still bring happiness as the essential steps to take.
Happiness is that intangible “something” that all human beings seem to long for from the time they are born. As Thomas Jefferson proclaimed in America’s Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” With the birth of a nation that was founded on the promise of a better life through individual achievement, regardless of social class, the pursuit of happiness has perhaps become synonymous with securing “the American Dream.” The pursuit of happiness and achieving “the American Dream” are entirely different from one person to another. The dream is what
Our parents always told us that we should have goals and dreams in our life, and through them we will gain happiness. There are some things in life that get in the way of our dreams and goals. In the Declaration of Independence, It states that we have the right to pursue happiness. For example having everybody in the world be equal, and not be shamed upon or looked at differently due to the color of their skin. The poem ¨The Negro Mother,¨ the play A Raisin in the Sun, and the article Innocence Is Irrelevant, all show how our society and they way people can get in the way of our happiness.
In the U.S. Declaration of Independence the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental right, but what exactly is happiness? According to Webster 's happiness is defined as a mental or emotional state of well being by positive emotions ranging from contentment to joy. But if we considered happiness as a trait rather than a transient state of being, than happiness wouldn’t be considered “joyful” or even feeling content with life. Instead happiness would perhaps include a sense of hopefulness and serenity and would be looked at as more of a contributor to one’s happiness. Ed Diener is a psychologist and a professor at University of Illinois and was the first person to identify the contributing factors to happiness and speaks about it in his book Happiness. Diener explains that happiness does matter in many different ways and uses three decades of research to explain happiness, suggesting that,“There is preliminary evidence that people who score higher on the well-being scales have better social and work relationships; make more money, live longer, healthier lives, and are more contributory societal citizens”(Conkle). Happiness comes in many different forms depending on the person. Family, friends, health, peace and values can all mean something to someone 's happiness but that doesn 't necessarily mean it’s a contributing factor(Tamayo). The extent of happiness is determined on not only actions but contributions, therefore if these
Happiness is a result that we deserved, furthermore, it becomes a motivation for us to keep trying and getting success in life.
As human beings, we all have the capability of experiencing emotions and feelings. People can experience happiness,
Without happiness, people might not be living their lives the way they yearn to. This is a prominent part of the