Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.

The noble and wise Eleanor Roosevelt, a woman whose courage guided a generation through the darkest storms of the twentieth century, once spoke a truth both simple and profound: “Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.” In these few words, she revealed one of life’s greatest paradoxes—that those who chase happiness directly will never find it, while those who live with purpose, service, and integrity will find it following quietly in their footsteps. Like a shadow cast by light, happiness cannot be grasped by reaching for it; it comes naturally to those who walk toward something greater than themselves.

In every age, humankind has sought happiness as if it were a treasure buried in the sands of time. Kings have built empires to possess it, philosophers have written treatises to define it, and the common man has searched for it in love, wealth, and glory. Yet the wise have always known that happiness is not something to be possessed—it is something to be earned by living rightly. The one who lives only for pleasure drinks from an empty cup; but the one who labors for meaning, for truth, for compassion, discovers that joy flows like a spring beneath their toil.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s words were not born from comfort, but from hardship. She lived through war, political turmoil, and personal sorrow. Her life was not one of ease, but of service. As the First Lady of the United States during the Great Depression and the Second World War, she faced a world broken by suffering. Yet she found happiness—not because the world was kind to her, but because she chose to be kind to the world. She did not seek joy as an end; she found it in the act of giving, in lifting the fallen, in standing for what was right. Through struggle, she discovered what so many never learn: that happiness comes not from pursuing comfort, but from embracing purpose.

Consider, too, the example of Mother Teresa, who walked among the dying and destitute of Calcutta. To the eyes of the world, she had nothing—no riches, no leisure, no power. Yet when asked if she was happy, she smiled and said, “Yes, very happy.” How could this be? Because her happiness was a by-product of her compassion. By devoting herself to others, she transcended the limits of the self. The joy she carried was born from service, not from desire. She lived the truth that Eleanor Roosevelt proclaimed—that to seek happiness for oneself alone is to chase the wind, but to live for love and goodness is to be filled with peace beyond measure.

So often, people mistake happiness for pleasure, thinking it can be bought, earned, or awarded. They chase it in wealth, in admiration, in fleeting indulgence, only to find that the more they pursue it, the further it drifts. The ancients knew this illusion well. The Stoics taught that joy does not come from external fortune, but from harmony with one’s own soul. “He who has peace within,” they said, “needs nothing more.” Happiness, then, is not the fruit of achievement—it is the fragrance of a life well-lived, the echo of a conscience at rest.

Let this teaching be passed down: do not make happiness your aim, but your companion. Do not ask, “What will make me happy?”—ask instead, “What is right? What is worthy? What is needed of me in this moment?” When you act with honesty, with courage, with compassion, happiness will come as naturally as dawn follows night. It will come not because you commanded it, but because you deserved it. To live for happiness is selfish; to live for purpose is divine—and from that divinity, happiness will bloom.

Therefore, my children, remember this wisdom: happiness cannot be hunted like a beast, nor stored like gold. It is the song that rises when the heart is in tune with duty and love. Build your days upon acts of kindness. Labor with joy. Serve others not for praise but for the peace that service brings. In this way, you will find what kings and conquerors never could—that happiness is not the goal of life, but the reward of the soul that has lived it well.

And when your years grow long and your strength wanes, you will look back not upon the fleeting pleasures you pursued, but upon the good you have done, the love you have shared, and the lives you have touched—and you will smile. For then you will know, as Eleanor Roosevelt knew, that the secret of joy lies not in seeking it, but in becoming the kind of person from whom happiness cannot help but flow.