having it all, but Feeling deprived

HAVING IT ALL, BUT FEELING DEPRIVED of yearning after... wealth and fame and creative play and beautiful women... but he does not know how to enjoy any of the four.” (Max Eastman in Ladies Home Journal) it was certainly true of his most intimate relationships; he married four times but was perhaps only happy in his last marriage. however, although extremely rich, he was still dogged by the fear that he might once again become as desperately poor as he had been in his childhood. The story of Charlie Chaplin is the story of all men, in the sense that happiness eludes them whether, like Charlie, they have everything but cannot enjoy it or whether they are so lacking in resources that a sense of deprivation mars their entire existence. in this world, those showered with blessings can be just as unhappy as those deprived of them. unfortunately, however, there are very few who can grasp this reality. The futility of endlessly pursuing happiness is illustrated by the suicide note of a young american woman: “i wanted to find happiness, and so i took to intoxicants. i even went to the extent of having free sex. however, i did not find happiness anywhere. so now, frustrated, i end my life.” Many liberated men and women stop at nothing in the quest for happiness. however, they finally learn that happiness is not attainable in the way they have chosen to seek it. after leading lives of utter frustration, many feel driven to commit suicide in sheer desperation.