"Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy"
I admit I have read only the review in The Economist, but it seems that this book is spot on. Modern societies tend to deify hedonic happiness. Recently, they even made some inroads in economics with the new paradigm of behavioral economics that assumes that happiness is the ultimate target in an individual's life.
Well, as I have discussed here, there must be a reason that no great men, from artists to emperors was "happy". It is because achievements come not through happiness, but through struggle and pain. It is the Maslowian self-actualization that drives all these people, a concept that is fundamentally different to happiness.
28 January 2008
27 January 2008
The brave new Obama world
Call it a landslide, a rout, a total annihilation. But today's primaries in South Carolina will mostly be remembered for sthg else, Obama's victory speech. That was one of his last chances for free national time before SuperTuesday, and did he deliver...
The speech was more than exceptional, it was classic. It demonstrated Obama's "audacious" talent to inspire, and proved that he is made from the same stuff that great leaders are made of. I am certain that if he wins the presidency, this speech will be remembered in history on par with the best ones from Martin Luther King or JFK. Seriously.
The speech was more than exceptional, it was classic. It demonstrated Obama's "audacious" talent to inspire, and proved that he is made from the same stuff that great leaders are made of. I am certain that if he wins the presidency, this speech will be remembered in history on par with the best ones from Martin Luther King or JFK. Seriously.
25 January 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
