I saw a boy running up a hill. When he reached the top, he walked back down the hill. When he reached the bottom, he ran back up to the top. He does this many times every day.
That boy is running up that hill so that he can run faster than all the other boys. Perhaps, someday, he will. If he does, he is going to torture the boys who can’t run as fast as him. He will beat them in races and laugh at them and make them feel horrible. He will be very happy. He will be happy because he can cause other boys pain whenever he wants to.
I saw a man going to work. He goes to work every day, and returns home every evening.
That man is going to keep going to work until he is promoted. When he is promoted, he is going to give the men below him orders and make them work long hours. He will slight them in many ways, and they will feel small and angry. And he will become very happy. He will be happy because he rules and commands other men, and can cause them pain at will.
Newton tells us that in the realm of matter, there is no upward force without an equal and opposite downward force. Something similar is true in the human realm. Every achievement consists, partly, in defeating another human being. To say that a man is happy, usually, is to say that he has made others miserable. To say that he is successful is to say that he can cause many others pain.
Oh, but there are ways of being happy without crushing another man underfoot. They’re called drugs.