Guest guest Posted April 15, 2003 Report Share Posted April 15, 2003 > Dear Deb, > > The great novelist Tolstoy believed that getting what we > want never makes us happy. You seem to be in a > position to tell us whether this is true. Was he right? > > Best wishes, > > Rob Hi dear Rob .. are you talking about materialistic things? I have a nice lifestyle, not much stress, and I love having my animals around me. I want to downsize to make life simpler, and will be doing so at the end of this year when my son " leaves the nest " . Happy? Yes I am .. most of the time. Living in the Australian bush is not for everyone, its a harsh environment at times. Gads .. Ive rewritten this about 5 times now .. Im not really sure what youre asking me .. warmest best wishes to you too .. deb x x x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 15, 2003 Report Share Posted April 15, 2003 Dear Deb, > Living in the Australian bush is not > for everyone, its a harsh environment at times. It sounds wonderful to me. I might move this year to the Adirondack Mountains, the " wildest " part of the northeast United States. They are probably pretty tame compared to where you are, but there are bears and moose and long winters. > are you talking about materialistic things? Not especially. Anything you want. Whatever it is you want. Hmm, maybe it will help if I say why I mentioned Tolstoy. About 25 years ago, when I was in graduate school, I fell in love with Tolstoy, especially his novel " Anna Karenina. " Because I loved that novel so much, I read some books that were written about it by literary critics. One of those critics said something like this: " Anna Karenina is one of the very few great novels that has a moral, like a fairy tale. And the moral is, 'Getting what you want doesn't make you happy.' " For some reason, these words made a gigantic impact on me. I sat there holding the book in my lap, staring at them, for a long time. (And here I am, 25 years later, still able to remember them. The critic, by the way, was John Bailey, the same John Bailey who was married to Irish Murdoch.) In the novel, the main way Tolstoy illustrates this moral is through his autobiographical character Levin who is madly in love with a woman named Kitty. All Levin wants is to be married to Kitty, to have a family with Kitty. Finally, he gets his wish. And is he happy? Has anything changed? No, he's still the same Levin. Still the same Levin. Love, Rob - " deb " <willett <Realization > Tuesday, April 15, 2003 8:17 AM Tolstoy > > Dear Deb, > > > > The great novelist Tolstoy believed that getting what we > > want never makes us happy. You seem to be in a > > position to tell us whether this is true. Was he right? > > > > Best wishes, > > > > Rob > > Hi dear Rob .. > are you talking about materialistic things? > I have a nice lifestyle, not much stress, and I love having my animals > around me. > I want to downsize to make life simpler, and will be doing so at the end of > this year when my son " leaves the nest " . > Happy? Yes I am .. most of the time. Living in the Australian bush is not > for everyone, its a harsh environment at times. > Gads .. Ive rewritten this about 5 times now .. Im not really sure what > youre asking me .. > warmest best wishes to you too .. deb x x x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 15, 2003 Report Share Posted April 15, 2003 From Rob: "Anna Karenina is one of the very few great novelsthat has a moral, like a fairy tale. And the moral is,'Getting what you want doesn't make you happy.'"Ramana Maharshi aka Alton It will if you dont want anything else. I dont want anything else but............ ...........INFORMATION ABOUT THIS LIST..........Email addresses: Post message: Realization Un: Realization- Our web address: http://www.realization.orgBy sending a message to this list, you are givingpermission to have it reproduced as a letter onhttp://www.realization.org................................................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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