My favorite blog post I wrote in June post was On Love and Happiness in which I quote George Sand:
“Il n’y a qu’un bonheur dans la vie, c’est d’aimer et d’être aimé.”
English translation: “There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved.”
– George Sand
In this post I mentioned that the word only is too restrictive. Can there be happiness without any love?
It’s a hard question for me to answer because I have had the good fortune of loving and being loved throughout my life. For me to attempt to answer it is analogous to a millionaire talking about the benefits of poverty. It simply doesn’t ring true.
However, I will try anyway.
I think people can live a meaningful life without love in their life. Specifically, they can pursue a search for truth—scientific truth, philosophical truth, or spiritual truth—and this life journey could lead to contentment, which is at least happiness’s first cousin, and perhaps a type of happiness itself.