"This part of my life is called"....
....the pursuit of happiness.
Couldn't be more true for me.
And if you haven't seen it yet, please do.
"And it was at that time that I thought about Thomas Jefferson writing that Declaration of Independence.
Him saying that we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And I thought about how he knew to put the 'pursuit' in there, like no one can actually have happiness. We can only pursue it."
Makes you think.
Couldn't be more true for me.
And if you haven't seen it yet, please do.
"And it was at that time that I thought about Thomas Jefferson writing that Declaration of Independence.
Him saying that we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And I thought about how he knew to put the 'pursuit' in there, like no one can actually have happiness. We can only pursue it."
Makes you think.
Labels: Movies, Personal, Reflections
posted by M (tread softly upon) at 9:51 AM
20 Comments:
In the opposite vein, should I quote you these lines from F. Gump?:
L. Dang: Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?
F. Gump: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, Sir.
What's the fun in being happy if you have to bloody go looking for it? Either it's served out to you on a platter, or it's not.
I couldn't remember this line completely ... well said in the movie .. and very much true .. :)
I like the way it's called Pursuit of Happyness. Somehow it sounds happier than plain happiness. More innocent. But I can't explain why.
And sometimes I wonder if half the the pleasure doesn't lie in the pursuit. I mean we do tend to take the things we have for granted. It's a human thingy; you're never happy with what you have.
umm incoherent comment, but maybe you'll know what i mean *beeble*
whoa! that line caught my attention too..what an amazing movie..totally motivational!
I have to see the movie - I hate Blockbuster for never having it in stock! And On Demand is too slow! I hate everyone!
That's a great line. I do think the fun is in the journey...the pursuit, the goal is what keeps us doing... would be boring to be fat dumb and happy sitting on our laurels!
What's the fun in being happy if you have to bloody go looking for it?
Au contraire, my dear Rapid I Movement, the only "fun" in achieving happiness lies in the pursuit. Because once you do reach your goal you realize that you'd rather have something else and have to set off on a fresh pursuit. Happiness is but a moment in time when you realize your pursuit has led you to where you were trying to reach.
And you had bloody well be on the lookout for it. Or 'happiness' may just pass you by.
:)
':)' was the reaction when I heard that bit in the movie too.
'Pursuit' is the operative word here, M, irrespective of the object. Ends up in a bloody race - against time, society and all else around you. Drat!
Shelley said it too - "We look before and after / and pine for what is not". Once we have it, it doesn't hold our fancy for long.
Kids, perhaps, are exceptions to this rule.
J.A.P.
@ r.i.m. I believe people spend their entire life just pursuing happiness because their definition of happiness keeps changing with time.
And honestly it is only things that are hard to get and one works really hard for, that bear the sweetest fruit. If happiness was handed to us on a platter I doubt if it would have made us 'happy'.
@ utkarsh thanks for stopping by my blog.
@ babelfish nice seeing you back :) And yes, we are never satisfied with what we get and never ever with things that we get easily. To be 'happy' and feel fulfilled we need to pursue it and attain a sense of achievemnet.
The sad thing is we may be pursuing things we want for too long which we believe will make us happy and in the process miss out on the little things that matter in life. The things that actually bring 'happiness'.
@ little miss muffet absolutely.
@ qsg oh please do. It is a must-see :) Try netflix.
@ anon I agree with you completely here. Esp the "And you had bloody well be on the lookout for it. Or 'happiness' may just pass you by."
@ a.g.s. It made smile too.
@ priya and while we are busy keeping up in the race we miss out on the beautiful sights, right?
@ JAP exactly. Which is why there is so much innocence and beauty in a child's expression.
Even though the graph of the movie had a strange monotone to it I loved it for some very poignant moments and fabulous performances from Will and lil Will :)
Happiness. What is happiness, I wonder?
Is it a state of mind? An ephemeral moment in time? A shadow that we strive to capture? Volatile. Effervescent. Elusive.
Or is it in the eyes of a child looking up at you in wonder. Or in the radiance of a smile or the warmth of a holding hands. In a walk down the beach or watching the sun set. I wonder.
Happiness.
May be it is handed to us on a platter. Only that we don't see it then. Or think we want it that bad. And which is why we spend time in pursuit of happiness.
Just a thought.
- r.b.
beautiful movie...it is!
and yes..we call pursuit...
nice thoughts and comments but sounds rhetorical. You realize the meaning of happiness only after you have experienced tremendous losses. Understanding it does not mean you get it. Every one likes to believe that they have had the hardest times, but really not everyone does. And once you have experienced the extremes at the other end of the spectrum, pursuit of happiness becomes immaterial. When you have nothing more to lose...., there lies "in pursuit of happyness".
Why does this post give me a strong sense of Deja Vu?
will check it out post exams :)
The DVDs sitting at home unwatched... :-( Someone told me it was motivational and I lost interest! :-)
I think the joy sometimes is in the pursuit itself and not what is attained. I have read so many true life stories where people were quite lost when they got what they were running after.
Kids, yeah, they are a different specie altogether. They have it all figured out (without trying to) and then they begin learning and - what is worse - growing.
Check out this: http://www.cato-unbound.org/2007/04/08/darrin-m-mcmahon/the-pursuit-of-happiness-in-perspective/
Was reading it as a part of my usual feeds... :-)
@ rohan both father and son gave a fabulous performance. Brilliant.
@ r.b. you may be right. May be it is all an illusion. Or right there in front of us but we're too busy to stop or too blind to see it. Ans spend our entire lives in 'pursuit'.
@ standbymind it is indeed.
@ anon the unfortuante thing is we usually learn to realize the value of something only after we lose it. And may be while we are too busy pursuing 'happiness' or what we think will bring us happiness, we may be taking for granted what we have and realize later that we did have 'happiness' but failed to enjoy it while it lasted.
@ how do we know may be because deep inside we all have the same fears and introspections? But thanks for stopping by.
@ ricercar sure do. it will be so worth it. And good luck with your exams.
@ eroteme please watch it :) And agreed, it is more about the pursuit than the attaining because once we reach our goal it ceases to fascinate.
Will check out the link, thanks!
I see that I'm a little late to this comments thread. I haven't seen the movie, but I wanted to point to two posts at the Situationist blog about what it is about *us* that makes us like the underlying message in this film (and Rocky Balboa). Do take a look.
I just read your comment (on TR's blog) in which you said you liked what the Situationist blog said about the Joshua Bell story. Hence these two links to their posts!
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