Eudaimonia Quotes

She is my morning, she is my evening; we have a love that blooms over and again, more beautifully each time than the last. You will see that we are not lovers like others, for whom love is both a punishment and a gift… Our love has never punished, only rewarded. Such love therein lies the eudaimonic life.

Perhaps the most accurate term for happiness, then, is the one Aristotle used: eudaimonia, which translates not directly to “happiness” but to “human flourishing.

Ô, wine!, the truth-serum so potent that all those who wish to live happy lives should abstain from drinking it entirely!... except of course when they are alone.

The happy life is thought to be one of excellence; now an excellent life requires exertion, and does not consist in amusement. If Eudaimonia, or happiness, is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence; and this will be that of the best thing in us.

All that I ask out of life is that it be constant and unending euphoria.

Even the memory of cradling her in my arms is pure euphoria. And all that I ask out of life is that it be constant and unending euphoria.

We are inundated with advice on where to travel to, but we hear little of why and how we should go, even though the art of travel seems naturally to sustain a number of questions neither so simple nor so trivial, and whose study might in modest ways contribute to an understanding of what the Greek philosophers beautifully termed eudaimonia, or ‘human flourishing’.

In ancient Greek, the word for the highest degree of human happiness is eudaimonia, which basically means “well-daemoned”—that is, nicely taken care of by some external divine creative spirit guide.

...it pointed to an alternative approach, a ‘negative path’ to happiness, that entailed taking a radically different stance towards those things that most of us spend our lives trying to avoid. It involved learning to enjoy uncertainty, embracing insecurity, stopping trying to think positively, becoming familiar with failure, even learning to value death. In short, all these people seemed to agree that in order to be truly happy, we might actually need to be willing to experience more negative emotions—or, at the very least to learn to stop running quite so hard from them.

To Aristotle, eudaimonia is not a fleeting positive emotion. Rather, it is something you do. Leading a eudaimonic life, Aristotle argued, requires cultivating the best qualities within you both morally and intellectually and living up to your potential. It is an active life, a life in which you do your job and contribute to society, a life in which you are involved in your community, a life, above all, in which you realize your potential, rather than squander your talents.

Every day you have choices. You can do things that wound your soul, like being dominated by the work ethic or compulsively seeking more money and possessions, or you can be around people who give you pleasure and do things that satisfy a desire deep inside you. Make this soul care a way of life, and you may discover what the Greeks called eudaimonia—a good spirit, or, in the deepest sense, happiness.

It is not possible to be original by trying to be original - those who attempt this in the arts will be merely avant-garde. Originality is the product of an impulse to intense and overwhelming that it bursts the conventions and produces something new - again more by accident than design.

When we spend money on others, for example, we feel more content than when we spend money on ourselves. This is a kind of well-being rooted in meaning, connection, and equanimity—called eudaimonia by the ancient Greeks and in modern times perhaps called “inner” or “true” happiness.

This is just an example of the age-old debate over two kinds of happiness that scholars refer to as hedonia and eudaimonia. Hedonia is about feeling good; eudaimonia is about living a purpose-filled life. In truth, we need both. Hedonia without eudaimonia devolves into empty pleasure; eudaimonia without hedonia can become dry.

Perhaps the most accurate term for happiness, then, is the one Aristotle used: eudaimonia, which translates not directly to “happiness” but to “human flourishing.” This definition really resonates with me because it acknowledges that happiness is not all about yellow smiley faces and rainbows. For me, happiness is the joy we feel striving after our potential.

Εἰ δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ εὐδαιμονία κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν ἐνέργεια, εὔλογον κατὰ τὴν κρατίστην· αὕτη δ᾽ ἂν εἴη τοῦ ἀρίστου. εἴτε δὴ νοῦς τοῦτο εἴτε ἄλλο τι, ὃ δὴ κατὰ φύσιν δοκεῖ ἄρχειν καὶ ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ ἔννοιαν ἔχειν περὶ καλῶν καὶ θείων, εἴτε θεῖον ὂν καὶ αὐτὸ εἴτε τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν τὸ θειότατον, ἡ τούτου ἐνέργεια κατὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀρετὴν εἴη ἂν ἡ τελεία εὐδαιμονία. Eudaimonia comes from action, it is the highest state of being that humans can hope for. VII # Eudaimonia.

We long for experiences “of profound connection with others,” he writes, “of deep understanding of natural phenomena, of love, of being profoundly moved by music or tragedy, or doing something new and innovative.” Just as important, we long for esteem and pride, “a self that happiness is a fitting response to.” Implicit in Nozick’s experiment is the idea that happiness should be a by-product, not a goal. Many of the ancient Greeks believed the same. To Aristotle, eudaimonia (roughly translated as “flourishing”) meant doing something productive. Happiness could only be achieved through exploiting our strengths and our potential. To be happy, one must do, not just feel.

eudaimonia, one of the Greek words translated as “happiness,” implies flourishing, fulfillment, accomplishment

as architect of choosing... choose. to. live. awakened. entirely. wholly. wildly powerful,  deeply masterful,  authentically creative, thriving.  this is not a hoped-for possible self. [reminder: this is an immutable Law of your being] needing not to learn the skill of being whole,  the antidote is to unlearn the habit of living incompletely here’s the practice: ‘know thyself‘—its about spirit  righteousness is underrated elevate connection with the changeless essence seek similitude with the will of Source and will of self 'choose thyself'—its about substance sacred. sagacious. spacious. in thought, word and deed— intend to: honor virtue. innovate enthusiastically. master integrity. 'become who you are'—its about style  a human, being an entrepreneur of life experiences a human, being a purveyor of preferences being-well with the known experience of soul, in service your relationship with insecurities, contradictions, & failures? obstacles or...invitations to grow? [mindset forms manifestation] emotions are messengers are gifts data for discernment: dare to deconstruct them your fears a belief renovation: fear.less. & aspire towards ascendance, anyway support your shine lean into the Light be.come. incandescent as architect of choosing, I choose...  to disrupt the energy of the status quo, to eclipse the realms of ordinary, & to live--a life-well lived. w/ spirit, substance & style.

By focusing on those things that are within his power—his own will and perception—and detaching himself from the things that are not—health, death, the actions of others, natural disasters, and so on—he attains the inner peace (eudaimonia) of the wise and just man.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un, Telah meninggal dunia ibu, oma, nenek kami tercinta.... Requiescat in pace et in amore, Telah dipanggil ke rumah Bapa di surga, anak, cucu kami terkasih.... Dalam sehari, Bunda menerima dua kabar (duka cita / suka cita) sekaligus. Apakah kesedihan serupa cucuran air hujan yang jatuh dan mengusik keheningan kolam? Apakah kebahagiaan seperti sebuah syair yang mesti dipertanyakan mengapa ia digubah? Bagaimana kita mesti menjawab pertanyaan tentang kematian orang orang terdekat? Mengapa mereka pergi? Kemana mereka akan pergi? Memento mori, serupa nyala api dan ngengat yang terbakar. Seperti juga lilin yang padam, bunga yang layu, ranting yang kering, pohon yang meranggas. Mereka hanyalah sebuah pertanda, bahwa semua yang hidup pasti akan mati. Agar kita senantiasa teringat pada tempus fugit, bahwa waktu yang berlalu  tak akan pernah kembali. Ketika Bunda masih muda, sesungguhnya Bunda sudah tidak lagi muda, tak akan pernah bertambah muda, tak akan kembali muda. Waktu telah merenggut kemudaan kita pelan pelan. Ketuaan adalah sebuah keniscayaan, dan kematian adalah sebuah kepastian. Tak ada sesuatu pun yang abadi, Anakku. Ingatan tentang mati semestinya memberi kita pelajaran berharga. Jangan pernah menyia nyiakan waktu. Jangan hilang niat untuk bangkit dari ranjang. Jangan terlalu malas untuk bekerja. Jangan terlalu letih untuk menuntaskan hari. Jangan pernah lupa untuk berdoa. Jangan lalai untuk bersyukur. Jadikan hari ini sebagai milikmu. Ketika semua perkara seakan menggiring langkahmu pada kesulitan, kegagalan, ketidakpastian dan rasa sakit. Pikirkanlah siapa yang akan jadi malaikat pelindung dan penolongmu? Bagaimana engkau akan menemukan eudaimonia? Bagaimana engkau hendak memaknai hidup? Dalam sekejap mata hidup bisa berubah. Waktu berlalu dan ia tak akan pernah kembali. Gunakan kesempatan untuk bercermin pada permukaan air yang jernih. Tatap langsung kedalaman telaga yang balik menatap kepada dirimu. Abaikan rasa sakit dan penderitaan, sebab puncak gunung sudah membayang di depan mata dan terbit matahari akan menghangatkan kalbumu. Cuma dirimu yang punya kendali atas pikiran, hasrat dan nafsu, perasaan dan kesadaran inderawi, persepsi, naluri dan semua tindakanmu sendiri. Ketika kita mengingat kematian, kita tidak akan lagi merasa gentar. Sebab ia lembut, ia tak lagi menakutkan. Ia justru menuntaskan segala rasa sakit dan penderitaan. Ia pengejawantahan waktu yang berharga, kecantikan yang abadi, indahnya rasa syukur, dan kemuliaan di balik setiap ucapan terima kasih. Ia mengajarkan kita bagaimana menghargai kehidupan yang sesungguhnya. Ia membimbing kita menemukan pintu takdir kita sendiri. Apapun perubahan yang menghampiri dirimu. Ia adalah pintu rahasia yang menjanjikan kejutan yang tak akan pernah kamu sangka sangka. Yang terbaik adalah menerimanya sebagai berkat. Apa yang ada dalam dirimu adalah kekuatanmu. Engkau akan membuatnya berarti. Bagi mereka yang paham, takdir dan kematian adalah sebuah karunia, seperti juga kehidupan. Sesungguhnyalah kita ini milik Allah dan kepada-Nyalah kita akan kembali.

Laughter is the sound of the shattering of the ego.

Throughout the day, practise bringing your attention back to the present moment, rather than allowing it to wander off into daydreams, rumination about the past, or worry about the future. ✽ If you have to think about something else, that’s okay, but try to keep one eye on the present moment, by noticing how you’re using your body and mind – try to be aware of each second that passes. ✽ If it helps, imagine that you’re seeing the world for the first time, or that this is your last day of life, and concentrate your attention on how you actually think and act, from moment to moment. ✽ Remind yourself that the past and future are ‘indifferent’ to you, and that the supreme good, and eudaimonia, can only exist within you, right now, in the present moment.

perhaps it’s philosophy that best explains why savoring responsibility leads to fulfillment. The model of happiness perpetuated by the cultural juggernauts of Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and Disneyesque fairy tales of everyday effervescence, broad-smiled contentedness, and perfect relationships is a historically anomalous, and for most, unachievable state. In contrast, we shall return to eudaimonia, the classical Greek concept of happiness that essentially means the “flourishing” or “rich” life. With their devotion to training, meticulousness, and desire for quiet power and accountability, Invisibles understand the value of a life not necessarily of the moment-to-moment happiness that many mistakenly strive for, but of an overall richness of experience, a life grounded in eudaimonic values.

Remember that everyone has four roles. The first and primary role is the simple fact of being a rational human being. The second is shaped by your individual nature: your likes, dislikes, personality traits, and odd quirks. The third is embodied by your personal circumstances. The fourth relates to the path you wish to take in life. •​Given your four roles, how would you combine them to most effectively journey toward eudaimonia?

What all Greek philosophers, no matter how opposed to polis life, took for granted is that freedom is exclusively located in the political realm, that necessity is primarily a prepolitical phenomenon, characteristic of the private household organization, and that force and violence are justified in this sphere because they are the only means to master necessity—for instance, by ruling over slaves—and to become free. Because all human beings are subject to necessity, they are entitled to violence toward others; violence is the prepolitical act of liberating oneself from the necessity of life for the freedom of world. This freedom is the essential condition of what the Greeks called felicity, eudaimonia, which was an objective status depending first of all upon wealth and health. To be poor or to be in ill health meant to be subject to physical necessity, and to be a slave meant to be subject, in addition, to man-made violence.

✽  Many people find the concept of ‘mindfulness’ in Buddhism appealing but a similar practice, called prosochê or ‘attention’ to one’s conscious ‘ruling faculty’, was central to ancient Stoicism. ✽  Epictetus’ Stoic Handbook opens with the fundamental practice of evaluating our impressions using the ‘Stoic fork’, the distinction between what’s ‘up to us’ and what isn’t, reminding ourselves that external things are inherently ‘indifferent’ with regard to virtue and eudaimonia. ✽  Planning the day ahead and reviewing the day gone by can help you maintain a structured routine of living wisely, and following Stoic principles.

In the words of Bertrand Russell, A certain kind of resignation is involved in willingness to face the truth about ourselves; this kind, though it may involve pain in the first moments, affords ultimately a protection—indeed the only possible protection—against the disappointments and disillusionments to which the self-deceiver is liable.

Kim bilir belki de… Şeytan, Tanrı’nın bilinçaltından başka bir şey değildir. ... Kutsal kitaplar sanattan ve sanatçılardan en az söz eden kitaplardır… ... Bütün hibeler, bağışlar, sadakalar ve teberrular hayırsever işadamlarının yoksulluk sayesinde yaptıkları varlıklarının yoksullara dağıttıkları yüzdeleridir. ... Bugün herkes tüketmeye çalıştığı nesnelerin üretiminde çalışarak tüketilen birer nesnedir. Hem üretici hem de tüketici olarak iki ucundan yakılmış bir mumdur. ... “Gerçekten çok şanslıyım, çünkü mutsuzluğumu bedavaya getiriyorum.” derdi bir berduş. “Kimileri her gün on iki saat çalışarak ve kucak dolusu para harcayarak bu hale geliyorlar. Evet ben de herkes kadar keyifsiz ve yalnızım. Ama bunun için ne sabah dokuz akşam beş çalışıyorum ne de üstüne para veriyorum.” ... Dünyanın kanseri işadamlarıdır. Çünkü ancak kanser hücreleri beslendikleri organizmayı harap ederek çoğalırlar. Büyümek için büyü. Çoğalmak için çoğal. İlerlemek için ilerle. Kalkınmak için kalkın. Kapitalizmin ve kanserin ideolojileri birbirlerinin tıpatıp aynısıdır. ... Çalışmaktan bir hak gibi bahsedilmesi ve bunun anayasalara girmesi ne garip! Çalışmak ne bir hak, ne de bir ödevdir. Kötü bir kaderdir sadece… Sakat veya göle doğmak gibi. ... Aylaklık; düşünmek, duymak ve yaşamak için bağdaş kurmaktır. Çalışmak ise bir gün bağdaş kurabilmek için boşu boşuna koşuşturmaktır. ... Bir işadamının onca emekle çalışarak, çalıştırarak ve koşuşturarak yarattığına bakın; bacası tüten bir fabrika. Bir de sanatçıların yarattıklarına bakın; Mayıs ayında Floransa. ... “Küçük, bedensel ve geçici hazları küçümseyrek ruhsal, büyük ve ilahi hazları arayan keşişlere, dervişlere, Hint’ten ve Rum’dan gelen ermişlere, sufilere, bilgelere sakın kanmayın.” diye fısıldadı Şeytan. “Hazzı hep göklerde arayanlar yeryüzünde bulamayan kabızlardır. Bu arif, aşık ve cümle evliya takımı işte böyledir; kendi kabızlık ve kasvetlerine gizemli mazeretler ararlar aslında.” ... Cennetten kovulduğumuzda Tanrılar bize hem hatıra hem de yolluk olsun diyerek sadece üç şey verdiler. Biri haz, diğeri neşe, öbürü de dans. Gerisini; ayrılığı ve hastalığı, acıyı ve keder, can sıkıntısını ve her biri birbirinden boş ümitleri hep burada bulduk. İşte bu yüzden en doğru felsefelerin temeli neşe, sevnç, coşku ve hevestir. Kahkahalar ise yapıtaşları. ... Düş kırıklıklarımızın yegane sebebi, çabanın hissesini daha yüksek sanmamızdır. ... Kendimi bilmek ruhumu sıkıyor. Kendini bilenler de canımı. ... Ne yapmak ve ne olmak istediklerini çok iyi bilen insanlara ise acıyorum. Hiç mi hayal güçleri yok? ... Yunanca’daki mutluluk (eudaimonia) sözünün içinde Şeytan (daimon) gizlidir. Bu bir tesadüf mü, yoksa bu olağanüstü adamların bilgeliklerinin yeni bir zirvesi mi? Eski Yunanlılar için Şeytan, bize doğru yolu gösteren iç sesimize verdiğimiz isimdir. Bu demektir ki, Yunanca mutlu olmak istiyorsanız Şeytan’ı işin içine karıştırmalısınız. ... İnsan doğar, yaşar ve ölür. Doğru da belki o sırayla değil. ... Kadın terk edildiği ve aldatıldığı zamanlarda, bir de boşanırken hiç tereddüt etmez; kararlı, şuurlu ve son derece akıllı bir biçimde bütün umumi strateji ve nokta hücumu taktikleriyle delirir. ... Feminizm; erkeklerin egemenliğindeki bir pazarda kadının kadınlığını değil işgücünü, aklını ve zamanını satmaya çalışmasıdır. Üretime, tüketime ve çalışmaya tapan bir toplumda kadının cinsiyetini bir mal olmaktan çıkartıp, bütün varoluşunu bir mal haline getirme gayretidir. Eğer bu özgürlük olsaydı, bütün erkekler ezelden beri özgürdüler. ... -Kadın 20. yüzyılda özgürlüğüne kavuştu. -Yok yahu! Peki sonra ne oldu? -Hiç. İş kölesi oldu. ... Aforizma edebiyatın salçasıdır. Sadece aforizma yersen kusarsın.

Stoic ethics is a species of eudaimonism. Its central, organizing concern is about what we ought to do or be to live well—to flourish. That is, we make it a lemma that all people ought to pursue a good life for themselves as a categorical commitment second to none. It does not follow from this that they ought to pursue any one particular version of the good life, or to cling tenaciously to the one they are pursuing. … Living virtuously is the process of creating a single, spatiotemporal object—a life. A life has a value as an object, as a whole. It is not always the case that its value as an object will be a function of the value of its spatiotemporal parts considered separately. But it is always the case that an evaluation of the parts will be incomplete until they are understood in the context of the whole life. What seems so clearly valuable (or required or excellent) when we focus on a thin temporal slice of a life (or a single, long strand of a life) may turn out to be awful or optional or vicious when we take a larger view. And it is the life as a whole that we consider when we think about its value in relation to other things, or its value as a part of the cosmos. … In our view, a focus on the parts of a life, or on the sum of its parts, obscures some important features of ethical inquiry. One such feature is the extent to which an agent’s own estimate of the value of his life is necessarily inconclusive: others will have to judge his life as a whole, because its character as a whole is not likely to be predictable while he is around to judge it, and because many important holistic considerations, such as its beauty, excellence, justice, and net effect, are things that he is either not well situated to judge or at least not in a privileged position to judge. Another feature obscured is the range of ways in which a single event or characteristic, without wide causal connections to other elements of one’s life, can nonetheless ruin it; for example, the possibility that a monstrously unjust act can indelibly stain a whole life. A third, related obscurity introduced by ignoring a whole-life frame of reference is the extent to which both aesthetic criteria and the notion of excellence have clear roles in the evaluation of a life. The whole-life frame of reference, together with a plausible account of the variety of ways in which a life can be a good one, keeps Stoicism sharply distinct from Epicurean doctrines, or their modern “welfarist” offshoots. How well my life is going from the inside, so to speak, in terms of the quality of my experience, is only one of the things that enters into a Stoic evaluation of it. We hold that there is a single unifying aim in the life of every rational agent, and that aim, guided by the notion of a good life (happiness, eudaimonia), is virtue, understood as the perfection of agency.

In this pivotal work, Aristotle maintained his teacher’s belief that the life of the mind is ultimately the life most worth living. Unlike Plato, however, he emphasized the social and linguistic dimensions of flourishing (eudaimonia).

eudaimonia,

eudaimonia, is filled with meaning, connection, and equanimity in life.

Vitality directly reflects eudaimonia—the inherent fulfillment produced by virtuecongruent activity—and reminds us that fulfillment is not an abstract judgment but an experienced psychological state. Vitality is how self-actualization feels. Vitality is a way to describe the engagement and absorption of flow.

eudaimonia (a state in which you’re achieving your full human potential),

Self-deception is common and universal, and the cause of most human tragedies. Of course, the science of self-deception can help us to live better and get more out of life.

Intellectualization should not be confused with rationalization, which is the use of feeble but seemingly plausible arguments either to justify something that is painful to accept (‘sour grapes’) or to make it seem ‘not so bad after all’ (‘sweet lemons’).

eudaimonia is a happy and smoothly flowing life that comes from thriving at bringing our moment-to-moment actions into harmony with our highest self.

Enable flourishing, There's a beautiful term in philosophy called eudaimonia, which means human flourishing, or achieving the best possible conditions for a human being.

Life's like forever becoming But life's forever dealing in hurt Now life's like death without living That's what life's like without you ... What good are these thoughts that I'm thinking It must be better not to be thinking at all A styrofoam lover with emotions of concrete No not much, not much at all ... What's good? What's good? Not much at all Life's good- But not fair at all - What's Good - The Thesis from Magic and Loss

Your mind has an equal empty space as in a piece of paper. So fill it with useful stuff.

Neither life has any questions nor it has any answers. Accept it, as the way it is.

Be bad and understand the good. Rather than being good and understanding bad.

A biased mind is an illusory mind. An unbiased mind is a real mind. It solely depends on you, which mind would you prefer.

Although there has perhaps never been a perfect mortal Sage, the Stoics believed that there was always at least one perfect immortal being: the god Zeus. The Stoic Zeus has perfect reason and virtue, like the Sage, and so the Stoics often refer to contemplating his perspective on human affairs because ‘in everything one says and does one must act as an imitator of God’ (Discourses, 2.14). Whether or not we believe in God, though, we might view their comments the basis of a kind of psychological exercise. Hercules, the favoured son of Zeus, was also revered by the Cynics and Stoics as a mythic hero and role-model. The ideal Sage is therefore godlike, a mortal having progressed so far that his wisdom and eudaimonia equal that of Zeus. The aspiring Stoic tries to make progress towards perfect wisdom by regularly contemplating the Sage and emulating his thoughts and actions.

The Stoic Sage is the hypothetical ideal of a perfect ‘wise man’ (sophos or phronimos in Greek; homo sapiens in Latin!). The word is often capitalized because it indicates something abstract rather than a real person. The Sage is supremely virtuous, a perfect human being, and the closest mortal approximation to Zeus. He is a completely good person, who lives a completely good and ‘smoothly flowing’ life of total serenity, he has attained perfect Happiness and fulfilment (eudaimonia). He lives in total harmony with himself, the rest of mankind, and Nature as a whole, because he follows reason and accepts his fate graciously, insofar as it is beyond his control. He has risen above irrational desires and emotions, to achieve peace of mind. Though he prefers to live as long as it is appropriate, and enjoys the ‘festival’ of life, he is completely unafraid of his own death.

A belief creates pseudo-reality. On the other hand, disbelief of belief creates true reality.

It’s the feeling you get when you’ve made something wonderful, or done something wonderful, and when you look back at it later, all you can say is: “I don’t even know where that came from.” You can’t repeat it. You can’t explain it. But it felt as if you were being guided. I only rarely experience this feeling, but it’s the most magnificent sensation imaginable when it arrives. I don’t think there is a more perfect happiness to be found in life than this state, except perhaps falling in love. In ancient Greek, the word for the highest degree of human happiness is eudaimonia, which basically means “well-daemoned”—that is, nicely taken care of by some external divine creative spirit guide. (Modern commentators, perhaps uncomfortable with this sense of divine mystery, simply call it “flow” or “being in the zone.”)

Philosophical eudaimonia is a condition in which a person of excellent character is living optimally well, flourishing, doing admirably, and steadily enjoying the best mindset that is available to human beings. The Stoics in particular took the complete attainment of such a condition to be well-nigh impossible, yet so worth striving for that no human being who grasped its attractions would wish to settle for less. (Long, 2002, p. 193)

Dáimōn è una parola greca da cui deriva il termine Eudaimonia: la buona riuscita del tuo demone, la tua autorealizzazione. Ciascuno di noi ha dentro di sé un demone, una virtù, una capacità. Che cos’è la tua virtù? Perché sei nato? Che cosa vuoi fare nella vita? Che cosa ti spinge a fare l’attore, piuttosto che il pittore, piuttosto che l’ingegnere? E come faccio a sapere qual è il mio demone? Devi conoscere te stesso. Perché se tu non conosci te stesso come fai a sapere qual è il tuo demone? Cosa fai, guardi la televisione e vedi quello che ti piacerebbe fare a partire da lì? No, devi fare un lavoro di autoriflessione, capire chi sei. Devi realizzare il tuo demone secondo misura. Cosa significa? Magari sei un attore ma non sei bravo magari come Marcello Mastroianni; allora non tentare di essere bravo come lui o più di lui. Esamina le tue capacità, collocati là dove sei, non oltrepassare la misura. Perché altrimenti prepari la tua rovina. La giusta misura è in tutte le cose. Anche la bellezza consiste nella giusta proporzione degli elementi. I greci avevano questa categoria (la giusta misura) derivante dal fatto che l’uomo è mortale. I greci, all’epoca di Omero, usano la parola -Protos- per dire uomo: colui che è destinato a morire. Siamo mortali, basta. Questa è la misura. E allora quando ti arriva la felicità, la forza, la potenza della vita espandila più che puoi. Quando sopraggiunge il dolore reggilo ed evita di metterlo in scena. [..] La cultura e l’etica greca sarebbe una grande etica che dovrebbe intervenire nell’occidente, a contenere la sua volontà di potenza; a contenere la riduzione della terra dal luogo di abitazione dell’uomo a materia prima, non da usare, da usurare. E qual è il limite? — Dialoghi sull'anima dell'educazione

Happiness’ is sometimes used, for instance, to translate the ancient Greek eudaimonia, a term for human flourishing. To achieve eudaimonia was to live successfully, which, for Aristotle and others, meant living in accordance with virtue and reason.

The guardian flipped it over. “It’s one of ours, yes . . . hmm. Says it’s addressed to Eudaimonia—

I let the externals die, so my eudaimonia can live again from within. My aretē is intrinsic and invaluable to me and unmeasurable by your pretentious possessions. My anatomical essence lives in the metaphysical shrouds, self-containing, auto-modulating, endlessly oscillating, forever sustaining.

Supporting earlier studies, loneliness tended to worsen the CTRA genes while eudaimonia improved them. What was surprising, though, was that in individuals who reported being high in both loneliness and

In Xenophon's summary of the allegory [Prodicus' "Choice of Heracles'' ] the young Heracles has sat down at a crossroads, not knowing which path to follow through life. As he sits deliberating, two women appear to him. Their physical appearance is a study in contrasts, and they are clearly villainness and heroine. Evil (Kakia) is overfed, plump, rouged, and all powdered up. She wears revealing clothes and is vain, viewing herself in a mirror and turning around to see if she is being admired. Virtue (Arete), on the other hand, wears simple white; her only adornments are purity, modesty, and temperance. These apparitions proceed to give speeches in praise of the life that they can give Heracles. Evil speaks first-an ominous choice, since in such debates, the first speaker typically loses. She offers Heracles a life of free, effortless pleasure. There will be no delights that he will not taste, no difficulties that he will not avoid. He need never worry about wars and affairs. All he need trouble himself about will be what food or drink to take; what to look at, hear, smell or touch for his pleasure; what partner he might enjoy, how he might sleep softest, and how he can obtain all these with the least toil (aponOtata). If ever there are shortages, he will not suffer ponos or hardship either in body or soul. Rather "you will enjoy those things that others work to produce, and you will not hold back from profiting everywhere." Evil tells Heracles her name, but adds confidentially that to her friends she is known as Happiness (Eudaimonia). Very different is the tone and substance of Virtue's argument. For while Evil would have Heracles live for himself alone and treat others as means to his self-gratification, Virtue begins by saying that she knows Heracles' parents and nature: Heracles must live up to his Olympian heritage. Therefore she will not deceive him with "hymns to pleasure." Evil's enticements are in fact contrary to the divine ordering, "for the gods have given men nothing good without ponos and diligence." There follows a series of emphatic verbal nouns to hammer home this truth: if you want divine favor, you must worship the gods; if you want to be admired, you must do good works for your friends; if you want to be honored, you must benefit your city and Greece; if you want the earth to bear crops, you must cultivate the land. Flocks require tending, war demands practice. And if you want strength (Heracles' trademark), you must accustom your body to serve your will, and you must train "with ponoi and sweat:' At this point, Evil bursts in to deplore such a harsh lifestyle. She is immediately silenced, however, as Virtue argues that duality is essential to a sense of fulfillment and even to pleasure itself. For paradoxically, ponos (pain, struggle) makes pleasure pleasurable. Evil's vision of happiness is one of continual and languid orgy-food without hunger, drink without thirst, sex without desire, sleep without weariness. But as experience shows, continual partying soon loses its zest, even if one goes so far as to cool expensive drinks "with snow" in summertime. By contrast, Virtue's own followers have no real trouble in satisfying their desires. They do so not by committing violence against others or living off others' labor, but by simply "holding off until they actually do desire" food or drink. Hunger is the best sauce, and it is free. Furthermore, Virtue appeals to Heracles' native idealism. What hedonists have ever accomplished any "fine work" (ergon kalon)? None, for no beautiful or divine deed is ever done "without me [Virtue] ." Therefore, wherever there are energetic, effective people, Virtue is present: she is a helper to craftsmen, a guard of the household, a partner in peacetime ponoi, an ally for the works (erga) of war, the best support of friendship. To choose Evil would be shameful and not even extremely pleasurable, while with Virtue one will lead the most varied and honorable life.

eudaimonia.

We might think that our lives are full of pleasure without being full of meaning; we might think that our lives are full of meaning without being full of pleasure. Of course, the idea of eudaimonia might be taken to include both pleasure and meaning.

In another study, Cole and colleagues sampled blood from 108 retired adults in the US and assessed the participants for social isolation, loneliness, and eudaimonia.

As this journey toward eudaimonia continues, we arrive at a point where we stop comparing ourselves to others. Perhaps we stop repeating over and over, “Why do I keep making the same mistakes?” or, “Why is it so much easier for everyone else?” Instead, we ask ourselves, “Is this what a wise person would do?” or, “Is this what a wise person would see as fair?” Eventually, we follow these questions with the affirmation, “I am going to set out to do what a wise person would do,” and then we act in ways that demonstrate this commitment, which is a victory in and of itself.

Semper putaram, orbis terrarum erat dans votum fecit.

✽  Throughout the day, practise bringing your attention back to the present moment, rather than allowing it to wander off into daydreams, rumination about the past, or worry about the future. ✽  If you have to think about something else, that’s okay, but try to keep one eye on the present moment, by noticing how you’re using your body and mind – try to be aware of each second that passes. ✽  If it helps, imagine that you’re seeing the world for the first time, or that this is your last day of life, and concentrate your attention on how you actually think and act, from moment to moment. ✽  Remind yourself that the past and future are ‘indifferent’ to you, and that the supreme good, and eudaimonia, can only exist within you, right now, in the present moment. Start by making the effort to spend more of your day being aware of the ‘here and now’, particularly your own thoughts and actions. Evaluate this process, though. What are the ‘pros and cons’ of doing this? How could you make more of the advantages and deal with or prevent any perceived disadvantages?

the kind of self-satisfaction that comes from opulences like fame or riches, along with personal gain and pleasure—looks different in our bodies from eudaimonia—the satisfaction that comes from having a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life.

We are inundated with advice on where to travel to; we hear little of why and how we should go – though the art of travel seems naturally to sustain a number of questions neither so simple nor so trivial and whose study might in modest ways contribute to an understanding of what the Greek philosophers beautifully termed eudaimonia or human flourishing.

What turned heads was the finding from the blood samples. Participants scoring high on the hedonic scale were far more likely to have inflammatory gene expression and decreased expression of genes involved in antibody and antiviral response, whereas participants scoring high on the eudaimonic scale had the opposite pattern of expression. In other words, participants with greater eudaimonia were physiologically healthier. As the researchers state, “Hedonic and eudaimonic well-being were originally distinguished to resolve basic and ancient philosophical questions regarding the best way for humans to live. The present data offer little grounds to prefer one mode of happiness over the other based on affective experience, but they identify a stark contrast at the level of molecular physiology.” But before we assume that Angelina Jolie will live to be 140 and Paris Hilton will explode in a giant ball of pus, we should do what scientists like to do when something as radical as this is found: more research.

To Aristotle, eudaimonia is not a fleeting positive emotion. Rather, it is something you do. Leading a eudaimonic life, Aristotle argued, requires cultivating the best qualities within you both morally and intellectually and living up to your potential. It is an active life, a life in which you do your job and contribute to society, a life in which you are involved in your community, a life, above all, in which you realize your potential, rather than squander your talents. Psychologists have picked up on Aristotle’s distinction. If hedonia is defined as “feeling good,” they argue, then eudaimonia is defined as “being and doing good”—and as “seeking to use and develop the best in oneself” in a way that fits with “one’s deeper principles.” It is a life of good character. And it pays dividends. As three scholars put it, “The more directly one aims to maximize pleasure and avoid pain, the more likely one is to produce instead a life bereft of depth, meaning, and community.” But those who choose to pursue meaning ultimately live fuller—and happier—lives. It’s difficult, of course, to measure a concept like meaning in the lab, but, according to psychologists, when people say that their lives have meaning, it’s because three conditions have been satisfied: they evaluate their lives as significant and worthwhile—as part of something bigger; they believe their lives make sense; and they feel their lives are driven by a sense of purpose.

eudaimonia,

Aristóteles postuló que el objetivo de la vida es la eudaimonia, la cualidad de florecer a partir de la virtud, un concepto que sigue vigente bajo distintos ropajes en el pensamiento moderno. El filósofo griego sostenía que las virtudes se obtienen hallando el punto medio entre los extremos.