“Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly often attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children and by children to adults.” -Thomas Szasz-
Szasz is stating that happiness is imaginary. If he is saying this, he is also stating that other emotions, such as anger, grief and sadness are also imaginary. Happiness is not an imagination, but is something one can always find, deep, in people’s hearts. Szasz’s statement illustrates his opinion on how presently everybody tries to please and make each other happy rather than pleasing and satisfying themselves. For example, having something as small as a piece of bread or having a chance to see one’s parents after a year or two of being separated. From my perspective, happiness is not imaginary because every person, at least one time or another, feels happiness or some kind of emotion in his or her life.
Instead of getting a diamond as a gift from a person, one would rather much be happier receiving a gift that he or she has spent a tremendous amount of time on. Everyday, one misses the happiness in little things and tries to find happiness in bigger, much grand things. Sometimes, the littlest things in life are the thing to give a person true happiness. Such as, being able to have a piece of bread might seem like a petty reason to be happy. However, by looking at the situation from the other person’s perspective, it is the most important thing in his or her life.
If he or she had not eaten for days, acquiring that bread would be happiness to him or her. Him or her obtaining the piece of bread is not an imagination; instead, it is reality. Although other people may not consider it as happiness, to the one who needs the bread, it is regarded as the most prized thing in the world. Happiness is what he or she makes it out to be as there is no clear definition. Above all, small things that may be of no importance may display true happiness.
Moreover, one may never notice how special and important one’s parents are until you are separated from them. Also, when one sees his or her parents again what an incredible and happy feeling it is. The happiness one feels when one meets his or her parents is happiness one may never be able to feel again. As is mentioned, it is not an imagination; instead, a reality. One cannot simply imagine the amount of happiness one can get from seeing his or her parents after a long time; it is the ultimate bliss one can wish for.
Conclusively, it can be seen that happiness is something everyone experiences at one time or another in his or her life. Attaining happiness from a piece of bread is not imagination; the bread is in one’s hands and he or she is getting happiness from the piece of bread. Seeing one’s parents could not make one even more incredibly happier. Therefore, even though happiness is really vague because it is true that everybody has his or her own definition on what is happiness and how to feel happy. The key point is, if one thinks one is in happiness then he or she is the happiest person in the world.
