The conquest of happiness
“Should be read by every parent, teacher, minister, and Congressman in the land.”—The Atlantic In The Conquest of Happiness, first published by Liveright in 1930, iconoclastic philosopher Bertrand Russell attempted to diagnose the myriad causes of unhappiness in modern life and chart a path out of the seemingly inescapable malaise so prevalent even in safe and prosperous Western societies. More than eighty years later, Russell’s wisdom remains as true as it was on its initial release. Eschewing guilt-based morality, Russell lays out a rationalist prescription for living a happy life, including the importance of cultivating interests outside oneself and the dangers of passive pleasure. In this new edition, best-selling philosopher Daniel C. Dennett reintroduces Russell to a new generation, stating that Conquest is both “a fascinating time capsule” and “a prototype of the flood of self-help books that have more recently been published, few of them as well worth reading today as Russell’s little book.”
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26recommend
46mentions
40people
2008–2026years
67% recommend33% neutral
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What Hacker News says
- Bertrand Russell wrote a text which touches on this exact subject, The Conquest of Happiness [1].
Ignore the hyperbole of the "who should read it". In my opinion, it is his thoughts on happiness from his own life. Some of it is dated, but I found it a relaxing and rational take on the topic.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Happiness-Bertrand-Russell/d...
- Appreciate the author mentioning Thoreau. I would also include Bertrand Russell who wrote "The Conquest of Happiness". Highly recommended read. I made a blog post of my favorite excerpt: https://www.twinsandthecrab.com/2021/12/quote-from-conquest-...
- There's a Bertrand Russell book on this very topic, The Conquest of Happiness - https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Happiness-Bertrand-Russell/d... (not an affiliate link)
I enjoyed the read. Felt like Russell just thought about this question for a while, and shared his thoughts. It was very practical and enjoyable.
Disclaimer: I recall some "wow, we don't talk like that anymore" moments. And I didn't enjoy the hyperbole of the cover quotes. But the content of the book debunks those.
- Also relevant;
In Praise of Idleness and The Conquest of Happiness both by Bertrand Russell.
On Doing Nothing by J.B.Priestly
- It's been probably a decade or more since I read it, but I remember it having a similar effect on me at the time. I don't remember what specifically in there had that effect anymore though, so I'm probably due for a reread.
If I remember correctly, it was about Tolstoy's struggle to find meaning in his life, even after having a wife, several kids, and finding lots of success with his writing and a large house. He experiments with and discusses quite a few philosophies in a fairly frank manner before circling back around to Christianity, and does his best to make a case for it based on logic and comparing with his past experiences.
But even for people who aren't religious (I'm not really that religious myself) and don't want to be, I think they'll still relate to his struggle to find meaning and find some useful and thought provoking ideas in there.
I do agree that more (most?) people should read it. I even gifted a copy of it to a good friend at the time.
Other books where I had a similar experience from reading them include Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell, and The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.
In particular Siddhartha had a lot of similarities to A Confession, in subject matter and structure, although it's told as a third person narrative and not as a personal account.
What were some of the takeaways you got from reading it?
- Hello fellow Bertrand Russell fan??! I don't see his name come up on HN too often but really nice to see In Praise of Idleness mentioned. For anyone reading this who wants to consume some of his philosophy:
In Praise of Idleness: And Other Essays - https://www.amazon.com/Praise-Idleness-Routledge-Classics-46...
The Conquest of Happiness - https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Happiness-Bertrand-Russell/d...
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