Man's Search For Meaning: The Pursuit Of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness “The pursuit of happiness.” (Declaration of Independence, Independence) This quote was originally supposed to be “the pursuit of property”, however Thomas Jefferson, with felicitous insight, changed the words and made one of the most recognizable and important sayings in the English language. Jefferson realized that happiness is not the result of ones estate, but rather the result of ones pursuits. Man needs a purpose to be truly happy. Ones purpose is an answer to the fundamental question of life, “why do we exist?” Everybody has a different response to that question and it is that response which allows people to be happy, to give them a goal to pursue, a reason to exist. Having a “why” in life is the key to happiness because as Viktor Frankl, a survivor of the holocaust, wrote in his book Man’s Search for Meaning “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.” The “why” he refers to is what allowed people to survive during the holocaust, as they suffered under the most cruel regime faced by any people, he expanded on this idea, “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” Those who had something to look forward to, who could hope for a better future survived. This proves the necessity of purpose as a reason for not only happiness, but also life …show more content…
No amount of wealth can satiate a fundamental desire for purpose it is evident a state of contentment is impossible without the precondition of a motivation to achieving happiness. It is in designing ones own destiny that people are able to achieve an ultimate pleasure. Every person possesses a different idea of how to attain complete fulfillment in life. It is in the individual to give life it’s meaning and in the individual to assign value to ones own