“Unquestionably it is possible to do without happiness; it is done involuntarily by the nineteen-twentieths of mankind, even in those parts of our present world which are least deep in barbarism; and it often has to be done voluntarily by the hero or martyr, for the sake of something which he prizes more than his individual happiness.”
This passage from "On Utilitarianism" reminded me so much of those heroes who sought the greatest suffering for the happiness of many others. An example could be that of Frodo Baggins from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in which he endured venturing for the sake of the destruction of an object (ring) that threatens the well-being of the entire middle-earth. He does all this voluntarily, knowing that he could have stayed in the Shire with his fellow hobbits. He put others before his own happiness, and the honor he actually possessed by doing so gave him a higher form of happiness, knowing that he contributed to the increase of the amount of happiness in Middle Earth.
This passage from "On Utilitarianism" reminded me so much of those heroes who sought the greatest suffering for the happiness of many others. An example could be that of Frodo Baggins from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in which he endured venturing for the sake of the destruction of an object (ring) that threatens the well-being of the entire middle-earth. He does all this voluntarily, knowing that he could have stayed in the Shire with his fellow hobbits. He put others before his own happiness, and the honor he actually possessed by doing so gave him a higher form of happiness, knowing that he contributed to the increase of the amount of happiness in Middle Earth.
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