--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The essential tendency of life is toward…" description: "\"The essential tendency of life is toward happiness . . . . Optimism is the only true condition for a reasonable man.\" — Phillips Brooks" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/phillips-brooks-2696_conditions_the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward_198393.png" --- # The essential tendency of life is toward happiness… ![“The essential tendency of life is toward happiness . . . . Optimism is the only true condition for a reasonable man.” quote by Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/phillips-brooks-2696_conditions_the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward_198393.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/phillips-brooks-2696_conditions_the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward_198393.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/phillips-brooks-2696_conditions_the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward_198393.png) > “The essential tendency of life is toward happiness . . . . Optimism is the only true condition for a reasonable man.” [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life naturally seeks happiness; optimism is essential for rational living. **In simple terms:** Happiness is natural; optimism needed. Key Takeaway Cultivate optimism for a rational life. Themes happiness optimism reason philosophy Mood hopeful reflective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - mental health - decision making - leadership Key Concepts human nature psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - How does optimism affect your daily choices? - Can rationality exist without optimism? A Different Perspective Optimism may not guarantee outcomes in harsh realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) [Reasonable man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasonable-man/) ## Related quotes > [Character is an essential tendency. It can be covered up, it can be messed with, it can be screwed around with, but it can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-shepard/character-is-an-essential-tendency-it-can-be-covered-up-it-can-be/) [Sam Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-shepard/) > [I've worked with farmers in Zimbabwe who've lost their lands. I've worked with people in Venezuela, under threat of kidnappings, whose external world is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-achor/i-ve-worked-with-farmers-in-zimbabwe-who-ve-lost-their-lands-i-ve/) [Shawn Achor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-achor/) > [Optimism is the true moral courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/optimism-is-the-true-moral-courage/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Optimism is true moral courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-shackleton/optimism-is-true-moral-courage/) [Ernest Shackleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-shackleton/) > [“One of the reviews says the book "radiates happiness and optimism". When I think of the conditions of worry and gloom and care under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/one-of-the-reviews-says-the-book-radiates-happiness-and-optimism-when/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“I like to think of myself as a reasonable man. I suppose that's true to everyone. Even the people we'd paint as the villains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/i-like-to-think-of-myself-as-a-reasonable-man-i-suppose-that-s-true/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [“If there is one thing that the average woman detests more than another, it is an entirely reasonable man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-austin-freeman/if-there-is-one-thing-that-the-average-woman-detests-more-than/) [R. Austin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-austin-freeman/) > [I consider myself a reasonable man. As such, I tend to expect others to behave with a modicum of reason and common sense. Especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-horton/i-consider-myself-a-reasonable-man-as-such-i-tend-to-expect-others-to/) Peter Horton > [Reasonable men are not reasonable when you're in the bubbles which have characterized capitalism since the beginning of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-samuelson/reasonable-men-are-not-reasonable-when-you-re-in-the-bubbles-which/) [Paul Samuelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-samuelson/) > [The Common Law of England has been laboriously built about a mythical figure-the figure of 'The Reasonable Man'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-herbert/the-common-law-of-england-has-been-laboriously-built-about-a-mythical/) [A. P. Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-herbert/) > [Many modern scholars have found the asceticism expressed in Plato unacceptable; it does not sound like the advice of a reasonable man in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcevilley/many-modern-scholars-have-found-the-asceticism-expressed-in-plato/) [Thomas McEvilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcevilley/) > [I want to be a reasonable man in an unreasonable world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-clark/i-want-to-be-a-reasonable-man-in-an-unreasonable-world/) [Ryan Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-clark/) > [An act of God was defined as something which no reasonable man could have expected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-herbert/an-act-of-god-was-defined-as-something-which-no-reasonable-man-could/) [A. P. Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-herbert/) > [The most reasonable man always manages, when he pulls the trigger, to become a dispenser of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/the-most-reasonable-man-always-manages-when-he-pulls-the-trigger-to/) [Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) ## More by Phillips Brooks > [Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/do-not-pray-for-tasks-equal-to-your-powers-pray-for-powers-equal-to/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [Christmas day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/christmas-day-is-a-day-of-joy-and-charity-may-god-make-you-very-rich/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [Preaching is truth through personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/preaching-is-truth-through-personality/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/nothing-lies-beyond-the-reach-of-prayer-except-that-which-lies/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [Everywhere the flower of obedience is intelligence. Obey a man with cordial loyalty and you will understand him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/everywhere-the-flower-of-obedience-is-intelligence-obey-a-man-with/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [O, do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/o-do-not-pray-for-easy-lives-pray-to-be-stronger-men-do-not-pray-for/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [So shall we join the disciples of our Lord, keeping faith in Him in spite of the crucifixion, and making ready, by our loyalty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/so-shall-we-join-the-disciples-of-our-lord-keeping-faith-in-him-in/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [The trouble is that I'm in a hurry, but God isn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/the-trouble-is-that-i-m-in-a-hurry-but-god-isn-t/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [The truest help we can render an afflicted man is not to take his burden from him, but to call out his best energy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/the-truest-help-we-can-render-an-afflicted-man-is-not-to-take-his/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [“The danger facing all of us--let me say it again, for one feels it tremendously--is not that we shall make an absolute failure of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/the-danger-facing-all-of-us-let-me-say-it-again-for-one-feels-it/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [There is a necessary limit to our achievement, but none to our attempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/there-is-a-necessary-limit-to-our-achievement-but-none-to-our-attempt/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [Character - Some day, you will be wrestling with the great temptation, or trembling under the great sorrow of your life. But the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/character-some-day-you-will-be-wrestling-with-the-great-temptation-or/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [To find his place and fill it is success for a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/to-find-his-place-and-fill-it-is-success-for-a-man/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [It is God's world still. It has been given to man not absolutely, but in trust, that man may work out in it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/it-is-god-s-world-still-it-has-been-given-to-man-not-absolutely-but/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Prayer is not conquering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/do-not-pray-for-easy-lives-pray-to-be-stronger-men-do-not-pray-for/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) [Explore all 153 Phillips Brooks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) ## More Conditions quotes > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Most celebrated men live in a condition of prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/most-celebrated-men-live-in-a-condition-of-prostitution/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bloch/history-is-in-its-essentials-the-science-of-change-it-knows-and-it/) [Marc Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bloch/) > [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [It clearly follows that to make men moral it is necessary to make their social environment moral. And that can be done in only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/it-clearly-follows-that-to-make-men-moral-it-is-necessary-to-make/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [Importunity is a condition of prayer. We are to press the matter, not with vain repetitions, but with urgent repetitions. We repeat, not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mckendree-bounds/importunity-is-a-condition-of-prayer-we-are-to-press-the-matter-not/) [Edward McKendree Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-mckendree-bounds/) > [The so-called evils are evils only in relation to a certain thing, and that which is evil in relation to a certain existing thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/the-so-called-evils-are-evils-only-in-relation-to-a-certain-thing-and/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A social group can, indeed must, already exercise 'leadership' before winning governmental power (this is indeed one of the principal conditions for the winning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-gramsci/a-social-group-can-indeed-must-already-exercise-leadership-before/) [Antonio Gramsci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-gramsci/) > [I'm a Christian because Christianity names and addresses sin. It acknowledges the reality that the evil we observe in the world is also present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/i-m-a-christian-because-christianity-names-and-addresses-sin-it/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) > [Changes in human conditions are brought about by the pioneering of the cleverest and most energetic men. They take the lead and the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/changes-in-human-conditions-are-brought-about-by-the-pioneering-of/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) Browse all 4,249 Conditions quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The essential tendency of life is toward happiness . . . . Optimism is the only true condition for a reasonable man.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Phillips Brooks" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward-happiness-optimism-is-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conditions" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward-happiness-optimism-is-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/phillips-brooks-2696_conditions_the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward_198393.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/phillips-brooks-2696_conditions_the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward_198393.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/phillips-brooks-2696_conditions_the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward_198393.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The essential tendency of life is toward happiness . . . . Optimism is the only true condition for a…” — Phillips Brooks", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Phillips Brooks", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The essential tendency of life is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward-happiness-optimism-is-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/the-essential-tendency-of-life-is-toward-happiness-optimism-is-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```