“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Throughout history, people have sought to understand the purpose of life, and prominent men and women have voiced their opinions on the subject. One of my favorite interpretations of the purpose of life is that of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who advocated living life in such a way as to be useful, honorable and compassionate, with the goal of making a difference in this world because you have lived and lived well. What a different world this would be if everybody sought to be useful, honorable and compassionate.
Emerson’s philosophy is especially significant when one looks at his background. Instead of coming from a background of privilege as we might suspect, Emerson grew up in poverty, and his father died when he was only eight years old, leaving his mother to raise five sons. Two of his brothers suffered from mental illness, and Emerson, himself, suffered from poor health. In addition, Emerson’s first wife died young, and his first son, Waldo, died while still a child. Some people growing up under such circumstances would have developed a bitter attitude toward life and the world, but not Ralph Waldo Emerson. He developed a moral philosophy based on optimism and individualism, and became an American literary giant who had an important influence on many other writers.
We could certainly use some of Emerson’s philosophy today. Our nation has become so polarized and so splintered into various special interest groups that many Americans seem to have forgotten that we are all traveling on the same ship of life. We should all be working to keep that ship afloat and on course for the sake of others, as well as for our own sake. Instead, it seems that far too many Americans, as participants of special interest groups, are determined to set their own goals and chart their own courses, despite the wishes of others. The spirit of cooperation, and the attitude of “one for all and all for one,” seems to be lacking in the thinking of many Americans today.
If Emerson was right that the purpose of life is to be useful, compassionate and honorable, instead of seeking happiness for ourselves, it appears that many of us are marching to the beat of a different drummer. We are focusing on what is in our best interest without giving a lot of thought to what is in the best interest of the population as a whole. Instead of trying to be useful to others, we seem to be focusing on being useful to ourselves. Many of us do not seem to be following any kind of code of honor. Instead, we focus on our own needs and wants. And compassion seems to be a scarce commodity. Too many of us seem to be traveling in our own small boats and following our own agenda.
Although Emerson did not believe that the purpose of life was to be happy, people who focus their lives on being useful, honorable and compassionate will almost certainly end up being happy. In the words of Sir James Barrie, “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”
Think about it.
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Copyright 20125
Allen W. Smith
