A Quote by Joseph Joubert

We use up in the passions the stuff that was given us for happiness. — © Joseph Joubert
We use up in the passions the stuff that was given us for happiness.
I think we all mistake certain things for happiness. I think we mistake comfort for happiness and we mistake pleasure for happiness, and entertainment for happiness, when really these are just things we use as proxies for our happiness. We use them to cheer us up or try and achieve brief happiness, when really happiness is something much more profound and long lasting and exists within us.
Unclean spirits increase the passions in us, making use of our negligence, and inciting them. But the angels decrease our passions, inciting us to the perfection of virtue.
I've known great happiness in my life along with great darkness, and a question that has repeatedly entered my poetry has been, how do we use the direct experience of happiness that may be given us, whether of love and sexuality or creativity or the sense of connectedness with other beings, human and otherwise?
It's not about the stuff. The issue is how we use that stuff and how do we train people to use that stuff. Do we use that stuff to confront people who are protesting in a community? Do we use a sniper rifle to see closer in a crowd? That's where it breaks down.
Most humans know their own "reason" only in the sense that Hume defined it, as "a slave to the passions"-and by "passions" he meant not moral passions or the passions of transcendent genius, but only low appetites or base desires, which society and economy ultimately shape and spur on in us.
Every morning when we wake up we've been given a wonderful gift-another day of life-so let's make the most of it. No one can do it for us. . . . Genuine happiness can only be realized once we commit to making it a personal priority in our lives. This may be a new behavior for some of us and a bit intimidating. Be gentle with yourself. It will all unfold. Like any new behavior, happiness can be learned.
I have learned from experience that happiness is an acquired skill. Children are one of the greatest lessons in happiness, constantly challenging us to enjoy the moment, as the next one will not be the same. Gratitude is essential to happiness. Every time our children rush up to us and smile, we have something to be happy about; every time we get out of bed and can take a deep breath and go out for a walk, we have something to be happy about-that is the essence of a happy existence. Happiness is a muscle we must use, or it will wither away.
As far as the job of President goes, its rewarding and I've given before this group the definition of happiness for the Greeks. I'll define it again: the full use of your powers along lines of excellence. I find, therefore, that the Presidency provides some happiness.
I wasn't the best UI programmer, but I know to use the interface and that stuff. It's definitely given me a leg up in terms of being able to talk to the people in the games industry.
God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. And he's given us the indwelling strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The rest is up to us.
Nature has given the opportunity of happiness to all, knew they but how to use it.
We use up words as we use up images. We use up everything, and that's good, because it makes us grow.
The sufferings of neurosis and psychosis are for us a schooling in the passions of the soul, just as the beam of the psychoanalytic scales, when we calculate the tilt of its threat to entire communities, provides us with an indication of the deadening of the passions in society.
New landscape of personal media has given us a vaster wasteland of cyberspace. But, luckily for us, there's some really wonderful stuff in it. And if history is any guide, as the media matures, the quality will continue to go up.
We value 'stuff' quite highly. Why? Because that 'stuff' apparently matters. Not only that, we use it as a measure of how successful we are, and as a result of that, having more of this 'stuff' often determines how people treat us.
The men of sense, the idols of the shallow, are very inferior to the men of passions. It is the strong passions which, rescuing us from sloth, impart to us that continuous and earnest attention necessary to great intellectual efforts.
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. More info...
Got it!