In John Stewart Mill’s autobiography, he said, “Suppose that all your objects in life are realized; that all the changes, institutions and opinions, which we are looking forward to, could be completely effective at this very instant. Would this be a great joy and happiness to you?” The answer, he realizes is “no.” He says then that his heart sank; “I seem to have nothing left to live for.”
Mill thought he was searching for an ideal, but instead he was working for satisfaction. The philosopher that confuses these two points, wastes a stupendous amount of energy in pursuit of that which is only an illusion. The tragedy is that Mill could never achieve the former objective, but he might have achieved the latter.
