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The Conquest of Happiness Reissue Edition

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Bertrand Russell (Author)
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60 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0871401625
ISBN-10: 0871401622
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Liveright; Reissue edition (March 17, 1996)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0871401622
  • ISBN-13: 978-0871401625
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

210 of 214 people found the following review helpful
just a few comments
By Wyote VINE VOICE on June 1, 2005
Format: Paperback
The other reviewers have done a fine job reviewing the book, and I'd just like to emphasize a few points.

1. Although a few of the references are dated because the book was written in 1930, all of the ideas are still perfectly relevant.

2. This is not a book of formal philosophy; more of introspection. Of course Russel introspected with the same brilliant and critical mind that he used to contribute to mathematics and philosophy. But this is not rigorous, apologetic or systematic. Actually, it's more like gentle advice. And quite reasonable.

I'd like to quote a few passages that I found thought-provoking, to give a reader a sense of what to expect if you purchase and read this book:

p. 27, "[T]o be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness."

p. 29, "The habit of looking to the future and thinking that the whole meaning of the present lies in what it will bring forth is a pernicious one. There can be no value in the whole unless there is value in the parts."

p. 43, "I do not deny that the feeling of success makes it easier to enjoy life.... Nor do I deny that money, up to a certain point, is very capable of increasing happiness. What I do maintain is that success can only be one ingredient in happiness, and is too dearly purchased if all the other ingredients have been sacrificed to obtain it."

p. 74, "The essentials of human happiness are simple, so simple that sophisticated people cannot bring themselves to what it is that they really lack."

p. 94, "[R]emember that your motives are not always as altruistic as they seem to yourself... don't overestimate your own merits... don't expect others to take as much interest in you as you do in yourself."

p.Read more ›
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44 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Analytic Philosophy Meets Pop Psychology
By D. S. Heersink on July 19, 2001
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This is a wonderful book, despite the passage of considerable time. Written shortly after WWI, there are occasional references to people and things no longer on the modern radar scope. And, as philosophical writing goes, Russell is better than most in constructing intelligible sentences and paragraphs that don't require repeated reading to understand.
This book is about life. Russell uses his analytic empiricism to discuss typically pop-psychological issues: Boredom, Excitement, Envy, Sin, Persecution, Public Opinion, Zest, etc. But his approach, dated back in time, is refreshingly new and helpful in the present. Indeed, Russell shows himself redolent in wisdom, the true aim of philosophy, and tackles issues that are at the core of what constitutes happiness and its opposites.
Because Russell appeals to his empirical views analytically arrived, there is a sense of wonderment and awe at such simple solutions to difficult problems in modern life. These solutions aren't dressed in pop-ism, but in a perennial philosophy that takes wisdom, not pop-up tapes of life, seriously.
The Atlantic Monthly claimed this book to be a "primer of self-regeneration . . . a most excellent book." This praise is not unwarranted, and given that commonsense is the center of the whole enterprise, its wisdom will endure not only when it was written in the 1920s, but today, and tomorrow.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Hits the nail on the head
By A Customer on August 19, 1999
Format: Paperback
In this book Bertrand Russell writes about things that cause unhappiness and--as the author himself explains--having no outside cause, are all the more distressing since they seem to have no solution. Russell proposes answers for the everyday happiness that every human being is bound to suffer. His chapters include Envy (the greatest of human passions, according to him), Persecution Mania (a VERY interesting chapter), Family, Work, and so on. A few things in the book must be taken with a grain of salt; however, I fell that on the whole Russell hits the nail on the head and offers us a work that is part philosophy, part psychology, and very effective in doing what it proposes. The second part of the book contains chapters that explain the cause of happiness, and how one can attain it. In the end, I put down the book knowing a bit more about human nature, and realizing that a book that was written so long ago is incredibly current--the truth that human nature never changes is one of the book's corollaries.
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51 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Intelligent and eye-opening
By Eric Breitenstein on August 1, 2000
Format: Paperback
I must admit I'm a fan of Russell, so I tend to be a bit biased. But I also think that Russell really has, as one person put it, "hit the nail on the head" with this book on happiness.
Russell divides the book into two parts (essentially). One is devoted to the causes of unhappiness, with chapters on persecution mania, fear, envy, boredom and excitement, fatigue, the sense of sin, and fear of public opinion, among others. I found the chapter on fear to be the most interesting, although they all were fascinating. In chapter 9, Fear of Public Opinion, Russell alleges that many people drive themselves to unhappiness by trying to conform to others and/or being afraid of opprobrium from friends, family, or co-workers. Of course, the chapter itself is much better than my terse summary.
The next part of the book is devoted to the causes of happiness, with chpaters on: zest, affection, family, work, hobbies, and effort. I found this part to be of lower quality than the first. If one works backward from Russell's causes of unhappiness, than one would come across interesting ways of finding happiness. In others words, if you discovered that you were submerged in unbearable (perhaps religious) guilt all the time, than perhaps some rationalization would help. For example, let's say you're a woman, you've been raped, and you have an abortion. You are under a tremendous amount of guilt because you happen to be a conservative (theologically) Baptist. What do you do about your religious guilt, which is ruining your life?
I think Russell should've devoted a section to his causes of happiness part of the book to getting out of the causes of unhappiness.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Five Stars

One of the Gem from Russell on Philosophy

Published 2 months ago by Ramkumar
Five Stars

It may be an old book, but a very pertinent message for today.

Published 3 months ago by Valerie R.
ONE OF RUSSELL’S BOOKS WRITTEN FOR A “POPULAR” AUDIENCE

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) was an influential British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and political activist. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Steven H Propp
Self-help from the 1930's...

Bertrand Russell was one of those wonderful polymaths of the British "ruling class" whose productive life was the antithesis of the all-too-often incestuous and philandering... Read more

Published 6 months ago by John P. Jones III
One Star

lousy book full of godless falsehoods.

Published 7 months ago by xscamper1
The overview on happiness has been useful and has clarified a lot of...

The overview on happiness has been useful and has clarified a lot of issues for me. So the principles remain valid and relevant. Read more

Published 7 months ago by agnieshka kiera
Five Stars

I like this book. It's simple but deep.

Published 9 months ago by Rocio Leslie Arista
Your Granddad's Tough Talk in 200 Pages

First published in 1930, Russell's "The Conquest of Happiness," is a welcome departure from his typically depressing ruminations. Read more

Published 10 months ago by John Wesley C.
Worth having!

An early influence on me. I visited Russell in the 60s.

Published 10 months ago by Jack London
Five Stars

Ok

Published 12 months ago by Adam

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