The quotes selected for this post are related specifically
to individual flourishing or personal development. I will follow this up later
with a selection of quotes relating to the social conditions that favour human
flourishing.
Rather than selecting the most inspirational quotes I can
think of I have selected quotes that seem to support what I hope is a coherent
set of propositions about human flourishing.
1. Happiness is the final end to which humans
are naturally attracted.
“Since there is evidently more than one
end, and we choose some of these (e.g. wealth, flutes …) for the sake of
something else, clearly not all ends are final ends; but the
chief good is evidently something final. ...
Now such a thing happiness [living well and doing well], above all else, is
held to be; for this we choose always for itself and never for the sake of
something else …” Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1, 7.
2. Reflection tells us that there is more to
happiness than having a successful life.
“For both ancients and moderns, the starting point for
considering happiness is a conventionally successful life which the agent finds
satisfactory. … We have no concept which readily covers both the unreflective
notion of success in life from which we start, and the revised notion of
success in life with which we end if and when we have appropriately revised our
priorities, and given morality its appropriate place in our life. The fact that
we lack such a concept doubtless owes something to our tendency to see the
pursuit of morality as being always likely to be in tension or conflict with
the pursuit of other ends.” Julia Annas, philosopher, The Morality of Happiness, 1993, p 453-4.
3. Human
flourishing is the exercise of practical reason to actualize human
potentialities.
“Ontologically considered, human flourishing is an activity, an actuality, and an end that is
realized (or a function that is performed) through the self-directed exercise
of an individual’s rational capacity. … As an actuality, human flourishing
consists of activities that both produce and express in a human being an
actualization of potentialities that are specific to the kind of living thing a
human being is and that are unique to each human being as an individual.”
Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas Rasmussen, philosophers, The Perfectionist Turn, 2016, p 45.
4. We feel elevated when we contemplate the natural
beauty of our world and the kindness of other humans..
Many words have been written to express such thoughts, but the
those that come to mind at the moment are the lyrics of “What a Wonderful
World”, a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas")
and George David Weiss, first recorded by Louis Armstrong, and
released in 1967. You can view the lyrics and listen here.
5. We are responsible
for setting the internal rules that determine our behaviour.
“The brain is an evolved system, a decision-making device
that interacts with its environment in a way that allows it to learn rules to
govern how it responds. It is a rule-based device that works, fortunately,
automatically.” Michael Gazzaniga, neurologist, The Ethical Brain, 2005, loc 1278.
6. Individuals
flourish as their reason and emotions learn to work in harmony.
“We sometimes fall into the view that we are fighting with
our unconscious, our id, or our animal self. But really we are the whole thing.
We are the rider, and we are the elephant. Both have their strengths and
special skills” p 22.
“Reason and emotion must work together to create intelligent
behaviour, but emotion (a major part of the elephant) does most of the work” p
13.
“virtue resides in a well-trained elephant” p 160. Jonathan
Haidt, psychologist, The Happiness
Hypothesis, 2006.
7. Unpleasant
thoughts and feelings are a natural part of life.
“So here is the happiness trap in a nutshell: to find
happiness, we try to avoid or get rid of bad feelings – but the harder we try,
the more bad feelings we create” p 40.
“As you open up and make space for these feelings, you will
find they bother you much less, and they ‘move on’ much more rapidly, instead
of ‘hanging around’ and disturbing you” p 45.
“A rich, full and meaningful life comes about through
accepting your thoughts and feelings instead of fighting them, and taking
effective action, guided by your deepest values” p 74. Russ Harris, MD, The Happiness Trap, 2007.
8. Grant
yourself the freedom to pursue your goals.
“The easiest way to convince yourself that you don’t have
mobility is to form ironclad concepts of yourself and how you do things … . Freedom is about realizing that you always
have the choice to start moving in any desired direction regardless of your
past.” Timothy Gallwey, coach, The Inner
Game of Work, 2000, p 126.
9. You get to
choose whether to be content with past achievement or to stoke motivation.
“Once you have taken the first two steps in self-control –
setting a goal and monitoring your behaviour – you’re confronted with a
perennial question: Should you focus on how far you’ve come or how much remains
to be done? There is no simple, universal answer, but it does make a difference
… . For contentment, apparently, it pays to look how far you’ve come. To stoke
motivation and ambition, focus instead on the road ahead.” Roy Baumeister and
John Tierney, psychologists, Willpower:
Rediscovering our Greatest Strength, 2011, Loc 1804
10. Be yourself!
“The paradox that frees you from all the prisons of self and
the worries about image and approval is that the highest development of self is self-forgetfulness. When you
fully integrate the awareness that it’s not about you, your focus shifts. Now
you realize it’s about the experience, the contribution, the exploration, the
discovery, and transformation. Now you’re free to be fully present without
double-tracking in your head worrying about whether you have their approval.”
Michael Hall, psychologist, Unleashed, 2007.
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