16 Sep 18
Originally posted by @fmfIt's a touchy-feely statement that looks good on paper, but most people are either too selfish, or too concerned with their own life to actually do it consistently.
"The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are - but on how happy others can be because of you."
Just read that on a friend's 'status' on WhatsApp.
How true is it? As explanations of 'the beauty of life' go, can it be bettered?
*Consistently being the key.
16 Sep 18
Originally posted by @chaney3This has not been true in the human environments I've been living in for the last 30 or 40 years. Far from it. Maybe I have been lucky. Furthermore, I think it does apply to almost all parents for significant slices of their lives - which accounts for billions and billions of people. Your comment sounds cynical to me, but if it is the product of the life you've lived and the people you've been around, then you have my sympathy.
It's a touchy-feely statement that looks good on paper, but most people are either too selfish, or too concerned with their own life to actually do it consistently.
16 Sep 18
Originally posted by @fmfI don't need your sympathy, I'm just telling it like it is.
This has not been true in the human environments I've been living in for the last 30 or 40 years. Far from it. Maybe I have been lucky. Furthermore, I think it does apply to almost all parents for significant slices of their lives - which accounts for billions and billions of people. Your comment sounds cynical to me, but if it is the product of the life you've lived and the people you've been around, then you have my sympathy.
People are mostly selfish, with brief periods here and there concerned about others.
*Especially so if making someone happy interferes greatly with their own life.
- Joined
- 01 Oct 04
- Moves
- 12095
Originally posted by @fmfI'm sure any prostitute would disagree.
"The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are - but on how happy others can be because of you."
Just read that on a friend's 'status' on WhatsApp.
How true is it? As explanations of 'the beauty of life' go, can it be bettered?
16 Sep 18
Originally posted by @chaney3People who are "mostly selfish" - like the people you presumably live amongst - are then probably not experiencing the beauty of life to its fullest extent.
People are mostly selfish, with brief periods here and there concerned about others. *Especially so if making someone happy interferes greatly with their own life.
Did you really think the statement in the OP somehow comes with a built-in claim that it's actually true for every single person everywhere?
It's surely just taking a stab at how one might define the 'beauty of life'.
If you don't think the OP's take on it is true - or makes a valid proposal about what life's priorities ought to be - what would be your definition of the beauty of life?
Originally posted by @dj2beckerAs explanations of 'the beauty of life' go, can the one in the OP be bettered?
I'm sure any prostitute would disagree.
16 Sep 18
Originally posted by @chaney3So do you believe that the supposed selfishness of "most people" is the beauty of life for them?
It's a touchy-feely statement that looks good on paper, but most people are either too selfish, or too concerned with their own life to actually do it consistently.
16 Sep 18
Originally posted by @chaney3You have my sympathy if this is the kind of thing that an OP like this makes you want to say. For me, the OP rings true and I probably absorbed the outlook that it encapsulates from being a Christian for such a long time. I also believe that one of the key meanings of life is to affect people around you positively and lovingly. Perhaps life has a differnt meaning for you? Maybe you will share.
Or maybe you're just a privileged white guy in a foreign country.
16 Sep 18
Originally posted by @fmfI'm just saying that a privileged white guy living in a foreign country, along with his internet friends, may look at life through a different lens than that of normal people.
You have my sympathy if this is the kind of thing that an OP like this makes you want to say. For me, the OP rings true and I probably absorbed the outlook that it encapsulates from being a Christian for such a long time. I also believe that one of the key meanings of life is to affect people around you positively and lovingly. Perhaps life has a differnt meaning for you? Maybe you will share.
