My Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life

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May 20, 2012
11 Comment

“To Be Happy At Home Is the Ultimate Result of All Ambition.”

“To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labour tends.”

– Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No.68

This quotation is one of the two epigraphs for Happier at Home. Whether or not you agree with Johnson, it’s certainly worth thinking about.

Do you agree? I do.

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Other posts you might be interested in...

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  2. My Home: Exciting and Peaceful.
  3. Do You Dread To Go Home?
  4. Asking yourself whether you’re happy–good idea or not?
  5. “Home Is Also the Place To Which You Come Back Again and Again.”
  • Hersheybarb

    I agree that I am happiest when I am in my home.  Isn’t that the way life is supposed to be?  Yes, we (at least the majority of us) have to labor to own a “house,” but the “home” part is made up of the people and events that are within.

    • Ouzakkaya

      I liked your comment and shared your opinion in my twitter just as you meant.

    • Phuongthao171t

      I like your comment and I quite agree that.

  • http://www.silvercross.co.uk/car-seats/ Child Car Seats

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  • http://www.existation.com/ Rachel

    This is so true! No matter how happy I am elsewhere, if I’m not happy at home, it feels like something is missing. Can’t wait for your book!

  • http://twitter.com/annaban Anna banana

    I totally agree! I think that if children grow up in a happy home, it gives them a positive outlook in life and molds them in a positive way too. Definitely, happiness at home is a crucial factor in an individual’s life. It affects us in so many ways.

  • http://twitter.com/george_tmub George P.H.

    I guess it’s true because ultimately we want two things: achievement and comfort. To rest at home having fulfilled your ambitions is the dream. 

    Problem is, there’s always new dreams to chase – and being happy at home isn’t conductive to achieving them ;) . That’s one of the bigger catches of my life! 

  • Mark

    If I may go off topic a bit.  I picked up the Happiness Project on one leg of my trip and read about what appears to be a very nice lady who “has it all” and who is seeking ways to be happier.  On the next leg of my trip, I picked up “Seal Team Six” and read about a man abused and unloved as a child going through hell in order to become an elite warrior and go on the most dangerous of missions for our country.  The contrast between these two lives boggles my mind and yet, I see a common theme which is adversity accepted is the way to becoming a stronger, better and happier person.

  • http://www.structureinanunstructuredlife.com/ Beth

    I agree. If you can happy at home, it is far easier to transfer that outward and be happy in other places. Especially because at the end of the day, you know you are returning to where you are happiest.

  • camillasue

    David O. McKay once said, “No other success can compensate for failure in the home.”  I think that is true for happiness as well.  No happiness that we find outside the home – in our careers, social groups, political power, or personal achievement – will compensate for unhappy feelings in the home with the relationships that matter most.  The opposite also seems to be true – when we are truly happy in our home and have happy family relationships, it can outweigh the losses we experience outside the home.  The family unit is the most important unit in the world.  So many studies point to the benefits of a happy, stable family.  Health is better, education is better, etc.  I think that tells us something.

  • http://rebatestate.com/draper-utah-real-estate-sellers Kelly Ciancio

    I agree. If we’ve got the means, we can always buy one house and another as we please. But what good is a “house” without a soul? A house where there is no exchange of human emotions is like a jar of gold – as priceless as it is useless with its emptiness.

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