Here we must take account of one of St. Thomas's conceptual distinctions, which at first seems like unnecessary caviling. It is the distinction between "uncreated" and "created" happiness. We have here something which, while not at all obvious, is nevertheless fraught with consequences for our whole feeling about life. Namely, this: what does indeed make us happy is the infinite and uncreated richness of God; but participation in this, happiness itself, is entirely a "creatural" reality governed from within by our humanity; it is not something that descends overwhelmingly upon us from outside. That is, it is not only something that happens to us; we ourselves are intensely active participants in our own happiness. Beatitude - Thomas is saying - cannot possibly be conceived as a merely objective condition of sheer existence. It is not a mere quality, not pure passivity, not simply a feeling. It is something that takes place in the alert core of the mind.. Happiness is an act and an activity of the soul. .Josef Pieper
About This Quote
St. Thomas Aquinas says that "happiness is an act and an activity of the soul." This means that happiness is something you do, not something you feel. The best way to understand what Aquinas is saying is to consider that happiness is a choice that you can make. You can choose to be happy or not.
If you are happy, then you are the one who makes yourself happy. When you are unhappy, it means that someone else has chosen to make you unhappy. For example, I know someone who complains all the time about his parents, but he is still their son.
Of course he will complain about them, but they still love him and care about him. That is because this person made himself unhappy by complaining all the time about his parents. He could have chosen not to complain and instead choose to respect them for loving him unconditionally despite his bad habits.
Source: Happiness And Contemplation
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