y theory as to how to live is wrong。 We imagine ourselves more different from the animals than we are。 Animals live on impulse； and are happy as long as external conditions are favorable。 If you have a cat it will enjoy life if it has food and warmth and opportunities for an occasional night on the tiles。 Your needs are more plex than those of your cat； but they still have their basis in instinct。 In civilized societies； especially in English…speaking societies； this is too apt to be forgotten。 People propose to themselves some one paramount objective； and restrain all impulses that do not minister to it。 A businessman may be so anxious to grow rich that to this end he sacrifices health and private affections。 When at last he has bee rich； no pleasure remains to him except harrying other people by exhortations to imitate his noble example。 Many rich ladies； although nature has not endowed them with any spontaneous pleasure in literature or art； decide to be thought cultured； and spend boring hours learning the right thing to say about fashionable new books that are written to give delight； not to afford opportunities for dusty snobbismn。
If you look around at the men and women whom you can call happy； you will see that they all have certain things in mon。 The most important of these things is an activity which at most gradually builds up something that you are glad to see ing into existence。 Women who take an instinctive pleasure in their children can get this kind of satisfaction out of bringing up a family。 Artists and authors and men of science get happiness in this way if their own work seems good to them。 But there are many humbler forms of the same kind of pleasure。 Many men who spend their working life in the city devote their weekends to voluntary and unr