Finding Happiness in a Complex World: Rules from Aristotle and Aquinas

Why, since happiness is so universally sought after, are so many people so miserable? The answer can be found by unpacking the wisdom of two of history’s intellectual giants who set out to answer the question that has confounded man from time immemorial: What makes us happy?

Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas existed sixteen centuries apart, yet each reached similar understandings about what makes a person happy and what makes him miserable. In these enlightening pages, Dr. Charles Nemeth synthesizes the judgments of history’s two greatest thinkers to present for you a life plan that inevitably leads to a happy human existence, whatever your ethnicity, religion, or citizenship. 

You will explore what it means to be happy and will come to understand the limitations of happiness. You’ll learn how to live in accordance with your basic nature so that your inclinations will not conflict with that which makes you flourish. And you’ll calibrate your compass so that you will be able to navigate your way into a state of life that makes you truly happy. 

Moreover, you’ll discover why happiness is obtained through action and not mere desire and why wealth and fame do not — and cannot — buy happiness. You’ll also learn why the body, despite providing avenues for sensory and intellectual pleasure, is incapable of providing true happiness. 

Strikingly, none of the suggestions in this book have ever been shown to be flawed. These timeless recommendations for a happy life never go out of favor and never change. Instead, they remain a constant, permanent, universal set of criteria on how to achieve a happy existence. 

You’ll also learn:

• The benefits of moderation, sensibility, and equilibrium

• The source of ultimate happiness and the means to attain it

• The formula for fostering contentment — what to strive for and what to avoid

• The essence of true goodness, happiness, and beauty 

• Human excellence and different levels of happiness 

With this Rosetta stone of a book, you will find solutions to fortify your soul and bring you peace. You will be equipped with a new sense of direction, hope, and healing that will guide you closer to lasting happiness.