ALFRED DE ZAYAS, UN SOCIETY OF WRITERS
Felix sua fata contentus (Horatius) – happy are those who come to terms with their lot and make the best of it. But what do we understand under “happiness”? Early humans grappled with this crucial existential question. Philosophers and poets have pondered over it for centuries. There is no consensus, but surely the pursuit of happiness is not coterminous with the pursuit of pleasure, the pursuit of money or the pursuit of fame. Sic transit gloria mundi – fame is but ephemeral. Happiness is a state of mind, a mode of being, the capacity to love and be loved, the warmth and security of family life, the trust of friends – a gift of God.
The Bhutanese have a tradition of pursuing happiness in their own way, and they invented the concept of gross national happiness – in contrast to our materialistic gross national product[1]. The United Nations liked the idea and in 2013 the General Assembly declared the 20th of March of every year to be international day of happiness[2]. The United Nations Society of Writers celebrates this happy day year after year, and in pre-Covid days we used to recite poetry at the UN library, the better pieces being published in our literary journal Ex Tempore[3].
For many happiness means working for peace and justice. For others it means achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals[4]. Of course, one can be happy without any reason at all. We can and should be grateful to be alive and to have the opportunity to share with others, be constructive, just be – not “do”, but live. One can be happy even though one may be poor and lack easy access to mundane pleasures, gadgets, the internet or paradise vacations. Happiness is a sense of gratefulness for being alive – a consciousness of our existence, that we are part of the universe, which in itself is a miracle in its pantheistic splendour. Happiness is a sense of the continuum of the generations, the realization that our ancestors left us a rich heritage and that it is our responsibility to preserve and improve our planet and to educate our children to appreciate the good things of life.
The recipe of hedonism is not a valid path to happiness. Whether the sought-after pleasure be luxury, gourmandise, lust, sex, alcohol, drugs, sports, gaming, beautiful art, sculpture, Meissen porcelain, Bohemian crystal, van Gogh paintings or even music and dance – we can experience happiness only if we indulge in moderation, for there can be no sustainable joy if we know that we can have everything anytime we want it – bottom line: we become blasé and a feeling of taedium vitae sets in.
Precisely the fun part of living is in its contrasts, the yin and yang, the joy of looking forward to future pleasures, accepting the hiatus between two pleasures, welcoming the seasons, letting ourselves be surprised.
Epicurus (BC 341–270) realized this and established his own school of philosophy, the “Garden”. In the Roman Republic Lucretius (BC 99–55) championed moderation, showing compassion for nature and society, an optimistic consciousness of man’s place in the order of things. Cicero (BC 106–43) admired Lucretius’ De rerum natura (BC 60), as did Ovidius (BC 43–AD 18) in his Metamorphoses (AD 8), where we encounter not only Ovid’s passion for nature but also the idea of empathy and the concept of the “white lie” (pia mendacia, or pia fraus). Seneca (BC 4–65 AD), despite being more of a Stoic, quotes Epicurus favourably in his Letters to Lucilius (AD 64) and achieves a reasonable synthesis of Stoicism and Epicureanism.
One wonders why the modern world seems to be so full of narcissistic hedonists – sometimes called libertines or moral nihilists, from Casanova to Don Juan, Marquis de Sade, Rimbaud, Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, or even Bill Clinton.
The ego is a good thing. But we must educate our ego, nurture it, taming our passions and embracing those classical maxims of the Delphian oracle – know yourself, nothing in excess. γνῶθι σεαυτόν, μηδὲν ἄγαν.
As a retired UN staffer, I have lived a relatively long life, blessed with family and friends, conscious that happiness can be shared. My recipe for equanimity and longevity: There is no need to “give in” to our caprices or temptations, bearing in mind that occasional abstinence cleans our bodies and minds of many toxins. Thus we can rediscover the joys of piety – and not only during Lent. Remember, as the Stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121–180) observed “very little is needed to make a happy life.” Hence, let us count our blessings rather than our afflictions. Happiness is not fame but consciousness of the good that surrounds us. Indeed, bene vixit, qui bene latuit (Ovidius).
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