Happiness implied a choice, and within that choice a concerted will, a lucid desire.
Interpretation
Happiness is a conscious decision that requires intention and clarity of desire.
In this quote, Albert Camus emphasizes that happiness is not merely a fleeting emotion or random occurrence, but rather a deliberate choice that individuals make. It involves having a clear understanding of what you desire and a purposeful commitment to achieving that happiness, suggesting that it is within our control to choose happiness through our actions and mindset.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a motivational speech about personal happiness and mental health.
The Poor Man whom everyone speaks of, the Poor Man whom everyone pities, one of the repulsive Poor from whom charitable souls keep their distance, he has still said nothing. Or, rather, he has spoken through the voice of Victor Hugo, Zola, Richepin. At least, they said so. And these shameful impostures fed their authors. Cruel irony, the Poor Man tormented with hunger feeds those who plead his case.
The certainty of a God giving meaning to life far surpasses in attractiveness the ability to behave badly with impunity. The choice would not be hard to make. But there is no choice and that is where the bitterness comes in. The absurd does not liberate; it binds.
Between history and the eternal I have chosen history because I like certainties. Of it, at least, I am certain, and how can I deny this force crushing me.
Don't wait for the last judgment - it takes place every day.
A single sentence will suffice for modern man. He fornicated and read the papers. After that vigorous definition, the subject will be, if I may say so, exhausted.
At times I feel myself overtaken by an immense tenderness for these people around me who live in the same century.
All human history attests That happiness for man, - the hungry sinner! - Since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner. ~Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto XIII, stanza 99
Some people are foolish enough to imagine that wealth and power and fame satisfy our hearts: but they never do, unless they are used to create and distribute happiness in the world.
I've taken my fun where I've found it.
What happiness this is: to fly, skimming over the earth just as we do in our dreams! Life has become a dream. Can this be the meaning of paradise?
Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all.
To wish happiness for others, even for those who want to do us harm, is the source of consummate happiness.
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