The Pursuit of Happiness

I've just finished Men at Work:  The Craft of Baseball (George F. Will, HarperCollins e-books).  It's primarily a great examination of the craft of baseball.  And it's also a great look at what makes a craftsman.

Allow me to quote Mr. Will directly.  "America has been called the only nation founded on a good idea.  That idea has been given many elaborate explanations, but the most concise and familiar formulation is the pursuit of happiness.  For a fortunate few people, happiness is the pursuit of excellence in a vocation.  The vocation can be a profession or a craft, elite or common, poetry or carpentry.  What matters most is an idea of excellence against which to measure achievement [emphasis mine].  ...  As Aristotle said, happiness is not a condition that is produced or stands on its own;  rather, it is a frame of mind that accompanies an activity.  But another frame of mind comes first.  It is a steely determination to do well."

Like many, I have seen both the evidence of this steely determination and its absence.  But if America is to re-capture its good idea of the pursuit of happiness, we need to teach our youngsters that hard work, discipline, and a steely determination to do well are achievable qualities -- we include them.  All we need to do is furnish the opportunities and guidance to express them.


Here's a stained glass window at Notre Dame Cathedral.  It exemplifies excellence in labor.