happiness is like a crab: it approaches us sideways, not head on

source: http://theschooloflife.typepad.com/the_school_of_life/2008/10/the-art-of-living-at-the-school-of-life.html

'Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so', concluded John Stuart Mill, the nineteenth century British philosopher, after a period of profound unhappiness. He realised that to pursue happiness directly is a mistake. Happiness is a by-product of life. As he also put it, happiness is like a crab: it approaches us sideways, not head on.