The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
人们坚信充满乐趣、没有痛苦的生活等于幸福，这种方式实际上减少了他们获得真正幸福的机会。如果乐趣和快乐等于幸福，那么痛苦一定等于不快乐。但事实上，恰恰相反：通往幸福的事情往往会带来一些痛苦。
As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, self-improvement.
因此，许多人避免了那些真正快乐的源泉。他们害怕婚姻、养育孩子、职业成就、宗教信仰、自我完善等不可避免带来的痛苦。
Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.
问一个单身汉为什么他拒绝结婚，尽管他发现约会越来越不令人满意。如果他是诚实的，他会告诉你他害怕做出承诺，因为承诺其实是很痛苦的。单身生活充满了乐趣、冒险和兴奋。婚姻有这样的时刻，但它们并不是它最显著的特征。
Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
有婴儿的夫妇很幸运能睡一整晚或放三天假。我不知道有哪个家长会用“有趣”这个词来形容养育孩子。但是，决定不生孩子的夫妇永远不知道看着孩子长大或和孙子玩耍的乐趣。
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
理解并接受真正的幸福与乐趣无关是最解放的认识之一。解放时间：现在我们可以把更多的时间花在真正能增加我们幸福感的活动上；解放金钱：买新车或那些对增加我们的幸福感毫无帮助的花哨衣服现在似乎毫无意义；把我们从嫉妒中解放出来：我们现在明白了，所有那些总是玩得很开心的人实际上可能一点也不开心。
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