Happiness According To Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell was an English philosopher, mathematician, and author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950. At first, he may not seem like a person with a secret to happiness. In fact, he lived much of his life either in abundance or suffering from distress. But perhaps this is precisely the reason why he was able to change the direction of his life and learn to be happy.

Unfortunately, this controversial thinker lost his parents when he was only 6 years old. He then lived with his very harsh grandparents. From a very young age, he found life almost unbearable. He later admitted to thinking about suicide more than once.

However, Bertrand Russell realized that knowledge led him on the path of fulfillment. Through philosophy and logic, he was able to go deeper into his own experience. It helped him feel like he was part of something bigger, to lift his spirits and overcome his suffering. According to this same philosopher, it is part of the hypothesis of how to be happy.

Happiness comes from focusing on the outside world

Bertrand Russell believed that curling up in himself would only lead to sadness and boredom. If we focus only on what is missing from our lives, our own problems, failures, and fears, we will lose enthusiasm for life. In this sense, Bertrand Russell’s ideas coincide with oriental philosophers and Lacanian psychoanalysis. These two schools believe that “I” is the source of suffering and illness.

In contrast, if we focus our attention outward, life becomes simpler. These external aspects of life are made up of a wide variety of realities. About knowledge, other people, work, hobbies, etc. All of these things make life more interesting and complete.

Bertrand Russell pointed out that a generous soul brings joy and joy. And these in turn are sources of energy and motivation. They also give you strength when it’s time to solve your own problems.

How to develop generosity

A generous soul does not appear from nothing; it needs to be developed. Bertrand Russell believes staying busy with daily activities helps open the door to happiness. However, this does not mean turning your back on self-examination or self-reflection. That would lead to a dayless life. Rather, it is an attempt to find a balance, to find a place that is equally far from both extremes.

In this sense, it is also important to choose the right moment and the right way. Each has its own time to reflect on itself and to focus its thoughts on external matters. Think about your own problems when there is a good reason for it, and the rest of the time you can turn your attention to the rest of the world.

What Bertrand Russell is proposing is that we develop an organized mind. If we can achieve this, our minds will always be clearer and more focused on the present. When we think of ourselves, we should do it rationally and with full focus. We also need to be able to question our own reasoning to determine if that is true or not.

Two virtues to be developed

Bertrand Russell’s own life proves to us something he later claimed: happiness is conquest. It does not happen by itself and does not come from outside. The ability to be happy is exactly that: the ability. We need to work on it and develop it to achieve it. For this reason, two virtues are essential in this process: effort and renunciation.

The effort is the will to direct one’s energy towards the work needed to achieve one’s own desires. It requires hard effort and perseverance. Nothing valuable is achieved overnight. The same goes for happiness. For this reason, it is important to develop this feature that will allow you to direct your efforts toward achieving your goals.

Another virtue essential to happiness, according to Bertrand Russell, is giving up. Perhaps it would be more accurate to talk about “acceptance”. Life brings before us situations that are inevitable and impossible to resolve. Some examples of these are death, incurable diseases, or ultimate loss.

We cannot undo these things. But what we can do is increase our ability to accept them. We should not waste time trying to solve them or let them bother us. Instead, we should write them into our story in a way that benefits us.

Bertrand Russell was one of the greatest people of his time, and his ideas are still relevant today. He changed from an orphan, a sad and lost son, to one of the most important intellectuals in the world. His own life and accomplishments support the weight of his words.