Happiness may be described as a chimera by the cynical and disbelieving among us. If you believe that, then happiness is a fantasy, but according to Boris Johnson, not so.
For the benefit of you Yanks, I shall digress and explain Boris - briefly. Our Boris is famous for saying naughty things, which wouldn't matter except for the fact that he is also the Honourable Member of Parliament for Henley.
No, I'm not going to explain bloody Henley, it's full of rich tossers, and that's enough for anyone.
What naughty things you ask? He's usually slagging off some town or city and offending everyone who lives there. Portsmouth was the last one, and its ‘depressed’ citizens are feeling pretty sore about Boris.
If you want to read any more, go to
boriswatch
However, I think Boris has got it right this time. (That worries me, but we will move swiftly on)
Putting aside his remarks about our nearly-Prime Minister, dear Gordon – I try not to think about Gordon too much, he bores me to tears - our Boris points out that we don’t work our butts off for the sheer fun of it. The reason is
“We do what we do because we hope to achieve happiness.”
The mop-top is right: except for a few dick-heads, most of us know that there are a lot of fun, worthwhile things to do, instead of spending our precious lives adding to ‘the Gross Domestic Product of UK PLC.’
My only quibble with the thoughts of Boris on this subject is his contention that ‘getting to grips with the emergence of Athenian democracy or the transition of Rome from republic to empire’ is a prerequisite of happiness.
Some how that don’t crack it for me
He’s dead right about the joys of getting sozzled and sitting in the sun though.
Yep.
Notes
Etymology: Latin chimaera, from Greek chimaira she-goat, chimera; akin to Old Norse gymbr yearling ewe.
a capitalized : a fire-breathing she-monster in Greek mythology having a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail b : an imaginary monster compounded of incongruous parts
2 : an illusion or fabrication of the mind; especially : an unrealizable dream -a fancy, a chimera in my brain, troubles me in my prayer—John Donne
From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Bibliography
‘The purpose of life is happiness: so fight the new enemies of fun.’
Johnson, Boris. The Spectator, May 26th 2007
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary at http://m-w.com/
8 comments:
Right On, Red Fred.
Happiness is a much underrated commodity these daze.
However.
It's okay to declare the desirability of achieving happiness, but wot about the necessary processes involved? Classical scolarship AIN'T a pre-requisite - but wot is? And where do you go from there?
There are those Holy Rollers (the late Roy Castle and Cliff Richard and any number of Southern Baptist ministers) who would claim that *You gotta find God, or Christ, or give up sex* before you can be happy.
Tosh.
I've done a hard day's work, sorted me emails, eaten a bloody great plate of chips *fries, to you Yankees* to save cooking an' I'M HAPPY!
Explain that, Boris 'n fred.
Hmmmmpphh! Haw, haw...
Well Mr Goat, I daresay you like chips.
And I see you endorse the use of a hyphen *coldly*
I refer you to 'Ask Oxford'- as they say
'Hyphenation in English is highly variable, and in many contexts, it really doesn't matter'
*smirk*
The pursuit of happiness is the only reason to work. Something I'm going to try to remember when I re-enter the job market. The wages for a legal secretary are about 25% higher than for other secretaries, but the headaches are 75% higher. Hardly worth the extra dinero.
I read a little about B.J. on Boriswatch. He's not as offensive as many politicians in the US. But then, I understand the difference between saying what's true and using political ramble to divert the constituents' attention. US politicians are guilty of the latter...how else would 59 Million and more vote for the $hrub?
btw, I think my Congresswoman, Julia Carson (D - Ind.), is as close to Boris as we could get. In Congress, she speaks the mind of her constituency because she actually listens to us. In speeches, she speaks her own mind because intelligent thought is better than politically correct any day.
Boris is more interesting than Ms. Carson, though. meh.
Boris has a point. I have to say that he's not too bad for a Tory. His over-the-top buffonery is almost endearing. However be careful because Boris and his ilk would have us all working in B&Q/Macdonalds for minimum wage and told we should be happy/grateful etc while he puffs on his cigar...
Oh and Mr Goateater, chips are not fries. Chips should agglutinate and when dropped from the bag onto a plate come out in one lump. Fries are served in Macdonalds and totally different. And stop patronising us on this side of the Atlantic. We've all seen Fawlty Towers and we have the interweb thingy over here, you know...
Lil Sis, I am sure you will rock the job market - and, rightly, have some fun as well.
Mad Dog, that is the problem with Boris, in that he is a natural comedian - so we laugh and forget that he would have us all working down the mines (if we had any left) and Macdonalds if he is in a good mood.
So glad you put Mr Goaty right about the true nature of fries -well done.
Ahh.... you all get to see Fawlty Towers over the other side? That explains a lot, uh huh.
Aha! A bite!
Congrats on your most erudite observations, Mad Dog.
However.
Chips shouldn't agglutinate unless cooked in fat rather than in oil (as with the Scots, and like their porridge).
Personally, I prefer to use agglutination in the literary rather than the culinary sense (I keep a kitchen elf to take care of that sort of thing).
You know, like the words bushmental *I thought the yanks might like that one* - or even Goateater, maybe.
I've got this feeling that Red Fred just might have a penchant for chips of a Friday night, too.
Haw, haw...
You leave my penchants out of it, Sunshine.......or else
Uh-Huh
Eh ? Goat headed what ? Give up sex ? Oh dear me, what a rant.
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