The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

reactionary part of China. He expected the result to
be that his head would be cut off. Nevertheless he
enjoyed a quiet happiness that I could only envy.
I do not wish to suggest, however, that these highflown
kinds of happiness are the only possible
ones. They are in fact open only to a minority,
since they require a kind of ability and a width of
interest which cannot be very common. It is not
only eminent scientists who can derive pleasure
through work, nor is it only leading statesmen who
can derive pleasure through advocacy of a cause.
The pleasure of work is open to anyone who can
develop some specialised skill, provided that he
can get satisfaction from the exercise of his skill
without demanding universal applause. I knew a
man who had lost the use of both legs in early
youth, but he had remained serenely happy
throughout a long life; he had achieved this by
writing a work in five volumes on rose blight, on
which I always understood he was the leading
expert. I have not had the pleasure of knowing any
large number of conchologists, but from those who