1. Quang Trung met Napoleon. The two kings boasted about their victories, showing each other the strategies in combat, and sharing the pressure of being a leader. It was a fine day. They were sitting on a porch, looking to the street outside. A typical Vietnamese street, vehicles passing frenetically, street stalls and vendors selling everything possible on earth. Quang Trung pointed to a sweet potato seller, who was turning her potatoes upside down on the grills, squinting at the sparks of fire flying out of the grill stove. He murmured: "Look, isn't that girl happier than us? She sells all of her potatoes, coming back home with her husband, and have a peaceful night. We, we have many sleepless nights thinking about battles, kingdoms, tactics". Napoleon nodded. And they both sighed, pondering their lives.
What is the point of this fable, you may ask. Well, my friend, don't you see that even kings are not happy. It seems that there are some happy people in life, but not ourselves, we ourselves are always miserable. The grilled sweet potato seller seemed to be happier than the kings. But who knows if she always had good nights, or if her dreams were shattered by her fear of starving to death. We all suffer from our own troubles in life.
2. I read a quote on Goodreads: "Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know". Sadly, the quote is so true. Intelligent people are unlikely to be happy. They know the dark sides of the world that not all the people know, they see the corrupted politicians that not many people see, and they notice flaws and faults that others barely notice. And they have their own problems, even if they're super intelligent. I know a man who has IQ of hundred something, everything was easy because he is so smart. He never knows what hard work means since his ability is enough. When he was a kid, school was too easy, read the book, answer the questions, got an A. But smart kid got bullied, so he hid it, hiding himself from other people. Until he went to college, he was asocial and lonely. He got lazy as nothing challenges him and he gets bored easily. And he suffers from depression and addiction. Intelligence doesn't make us happier.
Instead, I'm thinking maybe we don't need to be intelligent to be happy. Happy people aren't necessarily the ones who have high IQ. They don't necessarily know everything in life. In the novel Number the stars, the author says: it is much easier to be brave if you don't know everything, we should know only what we need to know. Like that, I think happy people aren't the one who know everything. They know what they need to know. They know what they don't know. And they know what is enough. They are not the smartest guys. But they are wise guys, who manage to be happy without being ignorant.
We're all going to die, my friend. Being happy or being upset, it's a choice of life. For me, I choose happy - go - lucky.
What is the point of this fable, you may ask. Well, my friend, don't you see that even kings are not happy. It seems that there are some happy people in life, but not ourselves, we ourselves are always miserable. The grilled sweet potato seller seemed to be happier than the kings. But who knows if she always had good nights, or if her dreams were shattered by her fear of starving to death. We all suffer from our own troubles in life.
2. I read a quote on Goodreads: "Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know". Sadly, the quote is so true. Intelligent people are unlikely to be happy. They know the dark sides of the world that not all the people know, they see the corrupted politicians that not many people see, and they notice flaws and faults that others barely notice. And they have their own problems, even if they're super intelligent. I know a man who has IQ of hundred something, everything was easy because he is so smart. He never knows what hard work means since his ability is enough. When he was a kid, school was too easy, read the book, answer the questions, got an A. But smart kid got bullied, so he hid it, hiding himself from other people. Until he went to college, he was asocial and lonely. He got lazy as nothing challenges him and he gets bored easily. And he suffers from depression and addiction. Intelligence doesn't make us happier.
Instead, I'm thinking maybe we don't need to be intelligent to be happy. Happy people aren't necessarily the ones who have high IQ. They don't necessarily know everything in life. In the novel Number the stars, the author says: it is much easier to be brave if you don't know everything, we should know only what we need to know. Like that, I think happy people aren't the one who know everything. They know what they need to know. They know what they don't know. And they know what is enough. They are not the smartest guys. But they are wise guys, who manage to be happy without being ignorant.
We're all going to die, my friend. Being happy or being upset, it's a choice of life. For me, I choose happy - go - lucky.
i have a question about grammar, are you sure that the Goodreads's quotes is "Happiness in intelligent is the rarest thing i know". Because i think it should be corrected from intelligent into intelligence. we need a noun in that position, is it right?
ReplyDeleteHi em, yeah you're right, I missed the word "people" here :D. I need to check my writing more carefully before press the publish button. Thank you for your reading and correction :)
Delete