Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-24

pleasure, OUT only IQf mOmeuJ, SluS6
the old want is Immediately Succeeded
by a new one.
Now, since satisfaction consists merely
in deliverance from the pain of need.
and since, when it is satisfied, the need
ceases, it is clear that the pleasure Of
satisfaction can only be momentary.
Hence those who seek to live life at
pleasure make double mistake; they
endeavor to obtain pleasure without
undergoing the pain of the preceding
need, and they endeavor to prolong
pleasure, whose nature is fieeting, with
a view to its continued enjoyment.
Boredom is Penalty.
But in proportion as pleasures in
crease the capacity for them diIninishes,
since what is customary is no longer
felt as a pleasure. The penalty we pay
for these mistakes is boredom and
safety.
Now it is a fact that most people
think that happiness consists In satisfy
ing their desires as soon as they are
felt. Do what you want to, they think,
and you will be happily.
AS the satisfaction Of our desires us
ually costs money, the rich are believed
to be happier than most people. This
belief Is a delusion.
The suicide rate among the leisured
rich is proportionately higher than it is
In any other class, and leaders of society
range the world in vain and restless
pursuit of the instructive satisfaction
that comes to tramps and artists un-
sought.
The retired business man, after taking
up some expensive and laborious hobby
such as big-game shooting, returns at
length to his business and makes money
- H.. de-. - a
ing life tolerable without the hard labor
to which he has been accustomed.
What is the inference? That happi-
ness must not be pursued directly. You
cannot purchase the kingdom of pleas
ure with dollars, any more than you can
take the kingdom of beauty by storm.
Work True Keynote.
The truth Of the matter is that work
is the only form of activity which hui
man beings have yet been able to stand
In any but the smallest doses, and hap
piness arises as by-product of inter-
ested and arduous activity.
Concentrating upon ourselves and the
satisfaction of our desires, We are moth
ing but nervous little clods of wants and
ailments.
So true is it that the only way to
avoid being miserable is not to have
enough leisure to wonder whether you
are happy or not Surrender all your
energies to a task, devote all your en-
thusiaSm to cause. sacrifice yourself
for what you conceive to be duty, and
on looking back you will find that you
have been happy.
We must work, then, for works sake
and take happiness for the wild flower
to bottle the perfume, to grasp in order
to possess-this is the prime error OF
the age.
Happiness is a flower that surprises
you. song which you hear as you pass
the hedge, rising suddenly in the night
and dying down again.
Certainty Of Happiness.
We are certain of happiness in The
period Immediately following the sat
isfactory accomplishment of any task.
The more difficult the Job the sweeter
will be the moment when it is done,
the strain relieved, the effort Stacked.
We feel we are entitled to a little
spelling" by ourselves and others, and
we get feeling of elated insoucianoe,"
of marking time, and enjoyment of
the moment which is rarely possible to
| a responsible grown-up person. And II
there Is some one by to share In our
small triumph the happiness Is in
creased.
There are number of things which
one could cite as possibly inducing