A review by nithesh_123
The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell
4.0
This is the first book that I would recommend to my kids once they achieve a reasonable degree of maturity. I wish that I had read this a couple of years earlier. Better late than never. In fact this book has come to my attention at the right juncture of my life. The firm foundations to the kind of happiness that Russel talks about must be laid in our 20s .
In his inimitable he dissects the causes of unhappiness ie boredom, fatigue, envy, sense of sin, persecution mania, fear of public opinion etc. In the second part he goes on to describe the causes of happiness ie zest, affection, the family, work, impersonal interests etc.
I must confess that I did realize some gaps in my own understanding of happiness. However, this book doesn't fall in the category of self help or that of deep shit philosophy. It is like a conversation with your wise uncle on a pleasant Saturday afternoon.
In his inimitable he dissects the causes of unhappiness ie boredom, fatigue, envy, sense of sin, persecution mania, fear of public opinion etc. In the second part he goes on to describe the causes of happiness ie zest, affection, the family, work, impersonal interests etc.
I must confess that I did realize some gaps in my own understanding of happiness. However, this book doesn't fall in the category of self help or that of deep shit philosophy. It is like a conversation with your wise uncle on a pleasant Saturday afternoon.