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.

Roger Crisp on Utilitarianism @ philosophy bites

source: philosophy bites
How should we live? John Stuart Mill, one of the great thinkers of the nineteenth century thought that we should maximise happiness. Here Roger Crisp, author of an acclaimed book on Mill, explains Mill's utilitarian ethical theory.

Direct download: Crisput.MP3