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In this little book, philosopher Bertrand Russell aimed at bringing across a very important message to the general public: happiness is both attainable and socially beneficial. Since it’s a book aimed at the general public, it’s not a tightly-knit philosophical discussion (although even these are a pleasure to read in the case of Russell). So, don’t expect to find any academic distinctions or clear definitions. Yet, since Russell was versed in mathematics, philosophy and science, he draws heavily from scientific insights � for example, on education of the young, etc.

The main thesis of the book is basically Spinoza-for-laypeople. Spinoza claimed that happiness lies in the realization of both your own cosmic insignificance and your fundamental unity with the universe. Russell holds a similar view: a happy life is the life of someone who is affectionately occupied with people and things. Or, in more philosophical jargon � happiness is a subject that is occupied with objects. This is an important claim, since it immediately does away with all the self-help guru’s, myth, self-deception and religion. A subject should not be occupied with itself � this is the road to an unhappy life.

Actually, self-absorption is the main cause of unhappiness. It comes in many forms and guises, ranging from sense of sin to self-aggrandizement, and from self-destruction to inferiority complex. What all these states of unhappiness have in common is a sickly obsession of the individual with himself. Yet, Russell acknowledges modern living is offering us many more potential environmental triggers to cause unhappiness, compared to earlier times. This is because most people are not born rich, are not especially gifted, and are not equipped with a natural inclination towards happiness.

For most of us, happiness is a conquest. That is, we have to put in effort, sometimes years, to be a happy person. This is because, happiness is both the product of environmental and intellectual causes. Although Russell only treats the latter, he does recognizes (and sometimes touches on) social factors such as economic despair, institutions such as marriage and religion, and threats stemming from political causes. The key is to be aware at all times of what is in your sphere of control and what not, and to learn not to intellectualize the things that are out of your reach. Even the things in your control should not be related to self in overabundance � it is important to make the best decisions and this requires some rumination, yet once decided we should only learn from the consequences and not fret on them.

Most unhappy people are unhappy as the result of escapism. If they’re not suffering from any psychopathology, some bad things happened to them, and in response to this they retreated inward. In short: unhappy people have closed themselves off from the world. This introversion can manifest itself in pure hate (towards humanity, towards the universe, whatnot), self-destruction (through alcohol and drugs, for example), self-aggrandizement (dominating others, viewing them as means, not ends), feelings of inferiority, etc. Most of these types of introversion lead to vicious cycles of self-destruction: the person suffering feelings of despair and inferiority seeks to escape these thoughts by stopping thought altogether, for example through the use of alcohol. This, then, leads to even worse feelings of self, leading to more hate towards the world and more escapism.

"The man in whom one desire runs to excess at the expense of all others is usually a man with some deepseated trouble, who is seeking escape from a specter. In the case of the dipsomaniac this is obvious: men drink in order to forget. If they had no specters in their lives, they would not find drunkenness more agreeable than sobriety. As the legendary Chinaman said: “Me no drinkee for drinkee, me drinkee for drunkee.� This is typical of all excessive and one-sided passions. It is not pleasure in the object itself that is sought, but oblivion."

The treatment in all of these situations is twofold. First, one should occupy oneself with some objects and parallel to diagnose oneself, to get to the truth about oneself and face this pain. Next, one should keep aiming at objects outside oneself and parallel to this steadily, consciously, eliminate these pains. This last is done through putting the painful things in perspective, for example by reading books on history or astronomy; or by relating them to other, less painful events, preferable related to other persons. In other words: one should learn to realize that his or her problems are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and this is done through consciously overriding the thought-patterns that have been laid down in the unconscious over the years. The most important point: this takes time and effort, and should not be done on purpose but always parallel to objective aims � a new hobby, a new relation, etc.

I have stated Russell’s thesis of ‘conquering happiness� mostly in negative terms, since this resonates more with my own current situation. His treatment of causes that make for unhappy living hit home harder than his treatment of causes that make for happy living. It’s also the first part of the book, so perhaps it’s a combination of both. And lastly, it is � as Russell himself claims (who was in his youth not the most happiest one himself) � perhaps the most important side of the thesis because modern society offers so many causes of unhappiness and despair and simultaneously so many routes of escape.

But it is, of course, much more helpful to state in positive terms what Russell proposes. A happy life is a life in which one is affectionately involved with persons and things. Sincerely loving others, especially partner and family, sincerely pursuing your (irrelevant!) interests and hobby’s, having a job that offers you a platform to hone your skills and improve yourself, and, perhaps most importantly, sincerely not being occupied with yourself. Of course, there are the (usual) necessary requirements: food, drink, shelter, etc. but these are mostly the products of the causes that make for a happy life. Zest in everything you do is key; to be happy, one has to be a “citizen of the universe�.

The book is one of the most profound works I’ve read by Russell. The reason is its sheer simplicity � which is a beautiful thing to experience and also (I imagine) one of the hardest things to create as an author. The main thing I take away from this book is the need for brutally honest self-diagnosis � that is, viewing current unhappiness as the result of underlying causes, and investigating these causes and the events that triggered them. Although this sounds like an algorithm for psychoanalysis of the self, it really isn’t. It’s applying reason to your own life. For example, I am prone to feelings of self-pity, self-destruction, and in general feeling a lack of being part of the world. This leads to a lack of zest (i.e. losing all interest in worldly things), never-ending rumination, escapism (e.g. binge-watching tv series), and whatnot. Through reading Russell, I realize how self-obsessed I’ve become over the past couple of years, and how this keeps me unhappy � only strengthening the feedback-loop. The trick, for me, is (1) through learning how I am keeping myself unhappy through these negative affections, gradually overriding these unconscious psychological patterns; and (2) to reflect on who I am as person (in the sense of what I value in life and what interests me), and subsequently start pursuing more reciprocal relations with people and more genuine interests.

I didn’t read this work with the aim of improving my own life � I reject self-help books � but the common sense underlying Russell’s claims is so obvious and resonates to such a degree, that this little book inspired me to start making a turn in life. For this, I’m grateful to Bertrand Russell � without knowing him, I imagine him as one of the most likeable and charming people I’ve read.

"Happiness is not, except in very rare cases, something that drops into the mouth, like a ripe fruit, by the mere operation of fortunate circumstances. That is why I have called this book “The Conquest of Happiness.� For in a world so full of avoidable and unavoidable misfortunes, of illness and psychological tangles, of struggle and poverty and ill will, the man or woman who is to be happy must find ways of coping with the multitudinous causes of unhappiness by which each individual is assailed."