I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.

Leo Tolstoy, quoted by Everybody Cares.

Update from the comments: “As everyone who has read his biography knows, it didn’t work. It didn’t even come close.” Human life in two sentences! (via mills)

I’ve been reading Ecclesiates and it struck me how much this sounds like parts of Solomon’s writings:

A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Solomon has a bit of a different conclusion, though. This looks like a very good overview of the book.

mills Via mills
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