You and I sitting on the verandah,
apparently two, but one in soul, you and I.
We feel the flowing water of life here,
you and I, with the garden’s beauty
and the birds singing.
The stars will be watching us,
and we will show them
what it is to be a thin crescent moon.
You and I unselfed, will be together,
indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.
The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar
as we laugh together, you and I.
In one form upon this earth,
and in another form in a timeless sweet land.
Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi
What is happiness for you? Editor-in-Chief Pascale Choueiri Saad
decided to throw this philosophical question out to her friends on social media and this is what came back
Fadi Saad: “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
Buddha
Francois Bacha: “Ce qui compte,
ce n’est pas le bonheur de tout le monde,
c’est le bonheur de chacun.”
Boris Vian
Traité de civisme
(édition 1979)
Joëlle Jammal:
“Happiness is from within.”
Yousra Bustros:“Le bonheur c’est
comment et non quoi,
un talent et non un objet.”
Hermann Hesse
Theresa Mansour: “Today I choose life. Every morning when
I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain… To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices – today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.”
Kevyn Aucoin
Shah Fayad:
“Le bonheur se trouve
dans les enfers pernicieux.”
Richard Nasraoui:
“There is no path to happiness, happiness is the path.”
Buddha
Maya Achkar Saliba:
“Le bonheur ecrit blanc.”
Henry de Montherlant
Rouba Taouk:
قلت ابتسم”
قال السماء كئيبة ! وتجهما
قلت: ابتسم يكفي التجهم في السما!
قال: الصبا ولى! فقلت له: ابتــسم
لن يرجع الأسف الصبا المتصرما!
قال: الليالي جرعتني علقما
قلت: ابتسم ولئن جرعت العلقما
فلعل غيرك إن رآك مرنما
طرح الكآبة جانبا و ترنما
أتُراك تغنم بالتبرم درهما
أم أنت تخسر بالبشاشة مغنما؟
قال: البشاشة ليس تسعد كائنا
يأتي إلى الدنيا و يذهب مرغما
قلت ابتسم مادام بينك والردى
“ شبر, فإنك بعد لن تتبسما
إيليا أبو ماضي
Elio Sassine: “Where is paradise? It is here. It is now. It is within us and without us. It is in our thoughts and in our actions.
It is in our lives and in our loves. It is in our families and in our friends. It is in our communities and in our world. It is in the courage of our convictions and in the character of our souls.”
Michael Shermer
Rana Kalo Jaroudi:
“The mind is its own place,
and in itself.
Can make a Heav’n of Hell,
a Hell of Heav’n.”
John Milton
Jeannine Yazbeck Abi Khalil:
“Life is too short,
I choose happiness.”
Wassim Henoud:“Les personnes que j’aime…
pas toujours faciles à déchiffrer mais un plaisir
incommensurable à les écouter et à vivre parmi elles.”
Wassim Henoud:“Les personnes que j’aime…
pas toujours faciles à déchiffrer mais un plaisir
incommensurable à les écouter et à vivre parmi elles.”
An interesting exchange of ideas about the meaning of Happiness
– Edgard Mounib Seikaly:
“I’m happiest when I breathe.”
– Fady Saad:
“How would you know if you wouldn’t be more happy when you don’t?”
– Edgard Mounib Seikaly:
“I just tried holding my breath. I was happy when I was done. So now I know for sure.”
Olfate Timani: “Le bonheur est de le chercher.”
Jules Renard
Niovi Haddad:
“Le bonheur,
c’est un choix.”
David Sandes
Roger Gaspar:
“The foolish man seeks happiness
in the distance. The wise grows it under his feet.” James Oppenheim
Tony Danayan:
“ اضحك، تضحك لك الدنيا”
Dina-Sue Musallam:
“You are responsible for your happiness. In fact, you create it. You attract it, You manifest it. You are the architect of your reality. You choose your thoughts, your perceptions, and your reaction to external forces. You possess all of the tools needed to expand your awareness, to orchestrate the evolution of your consciousness, to choose happiness, to choose love. You are that powerful. Create the life you deserve. Vibrate love.”
Gabriel Jureidini :
“Pourquoi chercher désespérément la clef
du bonheur alors que, de toute façon,
la serrure n’a jamais existé .”
Jacques Sternberg
Tracy Nehme:
“The secret of joy
is the mastery of pain.”
Anaïs Nin
Alexandre Najjar:
“Le bonheur
c’est le malheur évité.”
Nadim Zarka:
“Opportunity dances with
those already on the dance floor.”
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Maia Maatalani Fayad:
“I am who I am because of you.”
The Notebook
Nad Blu:
“The happiness of your life depends
upon the quality of your thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius
Youssef Nader:
“Don’t look for happiness, create it.”
Nathalie Habchi Harfouche:
“Where fear is, happiness is not.”
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Talal Abou Mrad:
“Le bonheur le plus doux
est celui qu’on partage.”
Jacques Delille
An extract from an inspiring dialogue on the pursuit of Happiness
– Carine Mouzannar Murr: “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Mahatma Gandhi
– Nadim Haddad: “What if the thought was corrupt to start with?”
– Pascale Choueiri Saad: “(Nadim) What you think is what you are, your thought is what defines you. “We are the masters of our fate, the captains of our souls,” said Churchill. Meaning we control our thoughts.”
– Nathalie Habchi Harfouche: “(Nadim) The thought can be corrupt but satisfying to its owner…”
– Carine Mouzannar Murr: “(Nadim) We will have a happy corrupted Being.”
– Nadim Haddad: “(Pascale) I agree but this isn’t what I was alluding to. (Nathalie) It depends who do you mean by “owner”. If it’s the intellect then yes it could be.
If it’s the soul , which I know to be the seat of experience, then it can’t be satisfying. It will only lead to misalignment.”
– Nadim Haddad: “(Carine) The Being can never be happy with corruption.
Only actions that erupt from love and go in the direction of freedom can make the being happy.”
– Nathalie Habchi Harfouche: “(Nadim) I don’t want to bore you with philosophical narratives but again, this will depend on the person’s true nature and level of consciousness.”
– Nadim Haddad: “You can’t bore me with wisdom Nathalie.”
Nana Kfoury: “Le secret du bonheur est de regarder
chaque situation telle qu’elle est
plutôt que de la regarder pour ce qu’elle devrait être.”
Fred Hilal:
“Les mathematiques
de la vie :
la vie + les rires
x l’amour – la haine
= le bonheur.”
Michel Araman:
“Les peuples heureux n’ont pas d’histoire… ils vivent, voilà tout,
et leur bonheur leur tient
lieu d’histoire”
Happiness on Earth
“Happiness” is a simple word that sums up all of mankind’s endeavors to reach that state of bliss.
The hardest of tasks is to have the guts, wits, and luck to maintain it for the rest of your living days, in order to remain happy on Earth.
“Happiness” during a life journey could be the reason we wake up in the morning, the purpose of every move, every sacrifice made, every pain endured, every breath taken, the extra mile walked to get closer to the clichéd targets: that certificate, that job opportunity, that promotion, that house, that wealth, to meet that right person….
All that stamina to reach the crest of those targets … And I ask, to reach exactly what? Security? A comfortable life style? A future with a lifetime partner? Success? Power ?
What if you had a great career, were loaded with material things, had a life partner, and you were not happy? What if you had children, but you could not get along with them? Had success and power, but were not happy?
Imagine yourself with all earthly supremacy, but surrounded by a forsaken natural environment?
So what is the real prerequisite of “Happiness”? To be happy, or not to be?
“Happiness” cannot be rejuvenated or treasured without the sense of “sharing” with the universe: giving benevolently, and creating a certain kind of happiness in the spirit of others.
Just as God took time to create lovingly the “Green” of our Earth, before breathing life into the soul of man, and shared with humanity a glimpse of His paradise, through freely endowing the greatest gift– “Nature”– we must imitate the Divine Creator and share the “Green Environment” with our future generations. For life cannot exist without “Nature,” and its mesmerizing effect on human beings, invigorating them immeasurably, healing, remedying, sanctifying, and strengthening the soul and body, inside out.
Through Nature on Earth, we can be blessed with a savor of “paradise” in heaven: Now that is happiness! Nature is a replica of heaven’s peace, serenity, beauty, with its freedom from stress, fear, anxiety, failure indignity, betrayal, the way that paradise is adorned by the immensity of the enchanted green trees and crystal pure waters … I bet that it is filled with cedars too!
Nour El Hashem
