Are people the best judges of their own happiness, or outsiders? In defining happiness, should we think of entire lives or of shorter periods such as moments, days, or years? And to what extent are virtue and happiness linked?
Interpretation
The quote questions whether individuals or outsiders are better at judging happiness and how it should be measured over time in relation to virtue.
Sissela Bok's quote encourages deep reflection on the nature of happiness, probing whether one is a reliable judge of their own happiness or if external perspectives hold more weight. It raises fundamental questions about the temporal nature of happiness—should it be assessed in fleeting moments or across the entirety of a life? Furthermore, it suggests an exploration of the relationship between virtue and happiness, inviting us to consider how our moral choices impact our well-being.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the nature of happiness in psychology classes.
I believe that a guarantee of public access to government information is indispensable in the long run for any democratic society.... if officials make public only what they want citizens to know, then publicity becomes a sham and accountability meaningless.
To mature is in part to realize that while complete intimacy and omniscience and power cannot be had, self-transcendence, growth, and closeness to others are nevertheless within one's reach.
Liars share with those they deceive the desire not to be deceived.
Trust is a social good to be protected just as much as the air we breathe or the water we drink. When it is damaged, the community as a whole suffers; and when it is destroyed, societies falter and collapse
We are all, in a sense, experts on secrecy. From earliest childhood we feel its mystery and attraction. We know both the power it confers and the burden it imposes. We learn how it can delight, give breathing space and protect.
Secrecy is as indispensable to human beings as fire, and as greatly feared.
We've been deceived by the thought that we would be more pleasing to God in our own way than in the way God has given us.
People need a sacred narrative. They must have a sense of larger purpose, in one form or another, however intellectualized. They will find a way to keep ancestral spirits alive.
Thus we arrive at the singular conclusion that of all the information passed by our cultural assets it is precisely the elements which might be of the greatest importance to us and which have the task of solving the riddles of the universe and of reconciling us to the sufferings of life -- it is precisely those elements that are the least well authenticated of any.
As, in religion, man is governed by the products of his own brain, so in capitalistic production, he is governed by the products of his own hand.
But the child's sob curses deeper in the silence than the strong man in his wrath!
My rule is that if I interview someone, they should never read what I have to say about them and regret having given me the interview.
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