Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Nature in literature
Nature in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In “Living Like Weasels,” the writer, Annie Dillard, is talking about weasels by describing some of their living habits and narrating her sudden encounter with a weasel which made her change her mind towards the real meaning of life. In her essay, Dillard is comparing weasels’ life with humans’ life, and in some parts she is favoring weasel’s life over our life since they live freely, but our freedom has been limited .
In fact, weasels live freely. It seems like they have accepted the pains and suffers of life like death and lost. They live in the moment, and they don’t bother themselves by remembering bad memories. According to Dillard,“ The weasel lives as he should. And I suspect that for me the way is like the weasel’s: open to time and death painlessly, noticing everything, remembering nothing, choosing the given with a fierce and pointed will.” We can obviously notice the comparison between weasels and humans in this statement. The author believes that as human beings, we
…show more content…
Our ancestors used to live a happier life. They were not drowned in technology like we are. They lived life as they should to, closer to their instinct. In the past, people had a healthy lifestyle, had more time to spend with their family and friends and were closer to nature. Whereas nowadays, people’s lifestyle has become unhealthy due to modern life. For example, we do not have much physical activity anymore. Besides, as modern humans are busy, we do not spend enough quality time with our family and friends which makes us happy. Moreover, we do not respect the nature which used to be our home. We live too fast without taking a rest for a while and enjoying our life. But as Dillard suggests, we need to be more observant. By taking a look at weasels, we can remember the real meaning of life which is living in the moment, being happy, and noticing
Richard Taylor, an American philosopher and author of, “The Meaning of Life” believes you can live a meaningful life as long as you realize your will and are completely involved in it and enjoy it, then you are no longer needed and your life was a successful one. “This is surely the way to look at all of life- at one’s own life, and each day and moment it contains; of the life of a nation; of the species; of the life of the world; and of everything that breathes” (Taylor p 27). He proves this through the ancient myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was sentenced by the Gods to spend an eternity rolling a stone repeatedly to the top of a hill and once it reached the top, it would roll right back down once again. Taylor calls Sisyphus’ life as an “endless pointlessness.” Taylor relates human life to Sisyphus’ life. He believes that both of our lives can have meaning. Taylor asks us to look at Sisyphus’ story in a different way. For example, while the Gods sentenced him to rolling this stone up a hill for an eternity, what if they gave him a “strange and irrational impulse” to roll the stone repeatedly. Now, according to Richard Taylor, Sisyphus’ life would now have meaning and if we were to be as invested as Sisyphus in rolling the stone, then our lives have meaning as well.
Humans, throughout recorded history, have searched for a proper way of living which would lead them to ultimate happiness; the Nicomachean Ethics, a compilation of lecture notes on the subject written by Greek philosopher Aristotle, is one of the most celebrated philosophical works dedicated to this study of the way. As he describes it, happiness can only be achieved by acting in conformity with virtues, virtues being established by a particular culture’s ideal person operating at their top capacity. In our current society the duplicity of standards in relation to virtue makes it difficult for anyone to attain. To discover true happiness, man must first discover himself.
In Theodore Isaac Rubin’s essay, “Competition and Happiness”, he summits about how in today’s society its always the battle eat or be eaten. Therefore our parents always tried to get us involved at an early age to help with our self-development, well being, and health. Since our culture has made us believe that competition brings out the best of us. Yet, it simultaneously brings out a stressful, isolating, and paranoid ambiance at a very young age. I agree with Rubin’s notion since the use of our time and energy is determined by competition and limits our happiness because it weakens our sense of identity.
People push being happy on society as a total must in life; sadness is not an option. However, the research that has conducted to the study of happiness speaks otherwise. In this essay Sharon Begley's article "Happiness: Enough Already" critiques and analyzes societies need to be happy and the motivational affects it has on life. Begley believes that individuals do not always have to be happy, and being sad is okay and even good for us. She brings in the research of other professionals to build her claim that extreme constant happiness is not good for people. I strongly agree that we need to experience sadness to build motivation in life and character all around.
In which he describes the encounter between a man and a mouse, consequently, the writer determinates that there is certain connection between them, and that the mouse has also capacity to have thoughts, feel love and compassion. The connection between them is compared “a child of God” and the “holy creature” (Steiner 846). The writer concludes that as conscious beings, both individuals have the same level of dignity, therefore, the use of animals as food is considered an “unforgiveable”
The society uses one’s happiness to seek their own. Starting with the ancient Adam Smith’s theory of a market economy where commodities are sold and bought in a market freely, where sellers and buyers exchange to achieve profit, and happiness is derived from profit. Thus “happiness is both produced and consumed” (Ahmed 3). Happiness is a matter of research for corporates of big companies. They try to figure out which product makes the buyers feel the happiness they need, so that they can produce more for their own profit. So, they cunningly make commercials with people having a good time. Which when watched by the buyers they get the false sense that their life would be so much better if they bought that small bottle of happiness. Once they buy their “Pandora’s box” they hope that underneath all the unnecessary objects there will be happiness, but they are dispirited at the end. Unknowingly the markets are making the society a more dull and sad place rather than distributing
Society seems to have improved through time, but has not yet reached the point of perfection in which everyone is happy. The truth is, not everyone will always be hap...
Possibly by making life a little simpler, in turn would impact our world positively where it would be absent of the mental tribulations that some experience today in our human life. Mental tribulations are contributed by stress of our current life of choices where we choose to work long hours to get ahead, we choose to go to school while working and raising a family, we choose to help our elderly parents, we choose to keep adding on more and more financial or non-financial responsibilities that cause this additional stress. If we could get rid of all that stress, remove the choices that give us that stress, wouldn’t we all feel better? When we look at the weasels life of freedom the weasel is “noticing everything, remembering nothing” (Dillard 121), this infers that the weasel is not living in the past like us humans do, he is living in the present time. If humans were able to do this, we wouldn’t dwell on our mistakes, we wouldn’t have the mental scars from a bad childhood or from a tragic time in our life, we wouldn’t worry about what tomorrow would bring, we wouldn’t need our past or memories, we would move forward just like any other day using our natural instincts, like that of a weasel, to fulfill a basic necessity, such as food. If humans took a few steps back and made their life a little more primitive
In contrast to Aristotle, Roko Belic’s documentary “Happy” provides a fresh perspective that takes place far more recently. The film sets out to similar goals of Aristotle in defining the nature of happiness and exploring what makes different people happy in general. Unlike Aristotle, however, the film’s main argument refers to makes people happier. In this case, the film argues that merely “doing what you love” is what leads to happiness (Belic). The argument itself appears oddly self-serving, considering that message is what underlines the foundation of happiness, yet there is a subliminal message that a simpler lifestyle is what leads to what the film is trying to convince you of. The message itself is obviously addressed to Americans, considering
The philosopher Aristotle once wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” This famous quote compels people to question the significance of their joy, and whether it truly represents purposeful lives they want to live. Ray Bradbury, a contemporary author, also tackles this question in his book, Fahrenheit 451, which deals heavily with society's view of happiness in the future. Through several main characters, Bradbury portrays the two branches of happiness: one as a lifeless path, heading nowhere, seeking no worry, while the other embraces pure human experience intertwined together to reveal truth and knowledge.
... snake lived, not stopping to ponder death or the meaning of his life. The poet is referring to living life to its fullest “before he came to the road” (24).
Each person is different, each with different emotions and reactions to their surroundings. People strive to uncover the secrets to the meaning of life. In reality, humans are given the desire to live the way we want and have a critical thinking mind, unlike animals. In the essay Living like Weasels, Annie Dillard believes we should live more carefree and instinctual as weasels, but what we were given as humans is a gift that no other creature has – free will and choice to shape our own lives.
We might not have the same opinions, paths, and ways of living; but we all, millions of people around the world, share the same purpose of life: Being able to say “I am having a good life!” What we mean by “good life” is living in pure happiness and having a wonderful peace of mind. The difference between us is that each one of us chooses a different way in his pursuit of happiness. Some find it in stability with a big house, a family, and a good paying job. Some find it in adventure and wildness, travel, and taking risks. While others don’t really have specific criteria or an organized plan, they just believe that happiness comes with living each day as if it was the last, with no worries about the rest. Personally, I find it in trying to be the best version of myself, in staying true to my principles, and in the same time in being able to make my own decisions; which reminds me of what George Loewenstein said “Just because we figure out that X makes people happy and they're choosing Y, we don't want to impose X on them.”
who achieve sense of meaning in their lives are happier than those who live from one pleasure to another.
Over the course of our lives, there are times where we are at a high point, where our lives are full of happiness and there is nothing for us to worry about. However, we often come to sit back and realize that our lives might not be exactly how we imagine it. There are problems and obstacles that we must choose to overcome. With the rate society is evolving at, we miss out on the little things like friends and family that makes our lives that much more special. Life can be filled with bliss no matter how bad things may seem and we can find true happiness from fixing these problems to make our lives blissful.