It is a commonplace among moralists that you cannot get happiness by pursuing it. This is only true if you pursue it unwisely. Gamblers at Monte Carlo are pursuing money, and most of them lose it instead, but there are other ways of pursuing money, which often succeed. So it is with happiness. If you pursue it by means of drink, you are forgetting the hang-over. Epicurus pursued it by living only in congenial society and eating only dry bread, supplemented by a little cheese on feast days. His method proved successful in his case, but he was a valetudinarian, and most people would need something more vigorous. For most people, the pursuit of happiness, unless supplemented in various ways, is too abstract and theoretical to be adequate as a personal rule of life.
道德家们常说,靠追求,你是无法得到幸福的。如果你不能明智地追求幸福，那么这句话就是真理。蒙特卡洛城的赌徒们想要追求金钱，可是结果却闹个血本无归。其实还有很多追求金钱的方式，这些方法通常都能成功。追求幸福也样如此。如果你通过畅饮来追求幸福，那你就忘记了酒醉后的不适。埃毕丘鲁斯追求幸福的办法是只和志趣相投的人结交，只吃不涂黄油的面包，用一点奶酪庆贺节日。对他而言，这种追求幸福的方式被证明是成功的，但是他很虚弱，而大多数人需要的是一些更能使他们精力充沛的东西。对于多数人而言，除非有多种方式可供选择，否则对幸福的追求就太过抽象和不切实际，很难成为个人的人生准则。