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Comment by al_be_back | Hacker News Reader

> 2. "Happiness depends upon ourselves."

he's quiet possibly referring to happiness as a relationship (with family, friends, colleagues, citizens etc) rather than just by oneself / isolation / individual. he famously said "man by nature is a political animal" (or social if you prefer)

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I expect it’s more similar to the Buddhist idea that happiness is cultivated in your own mind. It’s driven internally rather than externally.

That's near the opposite of what Aristotle intended. He wrote about happiness as virtuous action, living well. He wasn't so internally oriented.

Specifically, meaning making. The same situation can be perceived as negative, neutral, or positive all depending on how the individual interprets it.

The classic example that's a bit wrong is a glass of water half empty or half full.

The true optimist doesn't see it as half full, he sees it as full. Half with water, half with air (being grateful for the air as well.)

The neutral person sees it as half full, and the depressive sees it as half empty.

Social and political are very different, unless you are overly concerned with accumulating power within your social relationships.

I would submit that all social relationships have power dynamics. Politics is about allocation of resources more than power accumulation. You may be conflating the two because more power allows you to allocate resources with less intereference.

of course they are. his original quote says 'political' but often translations or quotes may say 'social' (informally).

In the original its meaning is being part of a greater unit.

It's more social, the translation of political is coming from polis; man is by nature meant to be part of a city or community.

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