There is a very known saying – that goes back to the Ancient times – that states that the people only need, in order to be happy, to have “bread and circus”.
Do you think this still applies today?
Bread and circus
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Vesper de Vil I agree with you on MAGIC!
Sounds Sweet to me :D
I think it is be correct, because it’s not objects or status or other material things that make people happy, but what they do. Lately I have realized this.
I only receive top grades, I’m becoming more popular at school, I’m thin, I earn more money…. everything i dreamed about one year ago is happening, but I’m not any happier. I am happy when I hang out with my 3 old best friends, watch a movie and read fantasy books. The top grades doesn’t make me happier, instead, they make me think about the time I wasted studing extra, instead of having fun. I’m not even sure if becoming a successful, super skinny woman is what I want, but earlier I thought “well, I’m not sure about my future, so i guess it wont hurt waste some time to do this”.
When i feel happy, I laugh, talk about silly things, eat really unhealthy food, read novels or listen to some good music no one else like.
I’m happy when I let go of all material things people judge me for.
Yes.
I fact we have Bread and Circus because as I society this is what is it being demanded.
Bread and Circus is the easist way to forget. To forget to think, to forget who we are and what the important thing are.
It is not just a polititians issue, is everywhere. At shools, home, TV, …How many people turns un the TV when they arrive home just for not doing another thing?
Caro Paulo, estou escrevendo aqui pra te dizer o quanto te admiro.
nao entendi nada do que voce escreve neste seu blog pois nao falo outro idioma além do português. mas espero que voce leia com carinho esse meu sincero voto de felicidade pra voce. muito obrigado por ter aparecido na minha vida.
we have to have a wider view not taking it literally “bread and circus”!if we take it in philosophic thinking with brad we mean all the things that we can feed our souls,body and mind,and with circus we mean the things that keeps us positive,good vibes,the things that amuses us and gives u freedom of of choosing the things that make u happy,and other things that make u feel good.just because people are scared to be what the wanna be they unify with the whole world,and then they talk about their life in a collective form so others can not judge.
so i agree:)
Happiness is a state of mind at a particular time. It may vary with time. Then there are various factors like environment, people with whom we are connected, basic requirements of life like food, water — not to mention Maslow’s theory here. Though no body has been able to define(leavea aside seeing becoz that’s not possible)MIND but the closest is that mind is that supersense which controls all senses.So bread will figure in contributing to our happiness when we feel hungry and after we have had bread we can think of circus. Accepting bread as an essential factor in our state of happiness seems to be in order but circus entirely depends on our nature, mind-set and outlook. Some of us like to shun circus and remain gloomy for rhyme or reason. No circus can cheer them. So let’s get over with the reasoning and put a smile on atleast one face today by giving BREAD and a pass to CIRCUS to the needy. Cheers ! Sandy
Assuming ‘bread’ is slang for money, and there is plenty of it, I see little need for circus.
How come that people just cant hate circus and instead they enjoy looking the miserable life of the animals in prison and perpetual torture to the end of time? What those people, the public, the voyeurists deserve? Paradise? Anyone?
By the way, today, (6-9-8)is my birthday and for some reason i found Brida on a table and i started to read it at 12:05 am. I just made like 10 pages and i found it so sweet and then i went to bed. Its the fifth of your books that i get to read. I will take it as a birthday present from you.
Hello, I think that in present days we need butter with the bread. About the circus, it fell apart because the politics has taken this business :)
No! not at all! only in ancient times….or sometimes back …
not now.
80% of people are aware of there living purpose and tey are not living only for bread and circus but to know the deepest meaning of their existence in this world.
They are the soul searchers….they will not sleep or eat day and night in search of just one question arising in their mind. With the power of imagination they will create a world and they actually find the answers too…
They are the extraordinary ones and make the simple things extraordinary just by being simple…they eat to live, they don’t live to eat…
pooja (India)
ups… I meant to write
“Really I think WE all..
sorry about that…
I think that´s a saying from someone who feels above “the people” and who judges about “their” needs – and who might be invested to keep people in their place = themselves in power.
Really I think you all are looking for happiness and love where ever we think we cqn find it. Of course we need our basic needs to be met, such as food and shelter, otherwise we´re on hard survival. We might think we need circus or a ton or distractions – but sooner or later we´re bound to find out they don´t give lasting happiness.
So – do I think this saying still applies today?
I think more and more people everywhere are crying out for a new way of living because we so obviously are outgrowing the old one that is braking down in more and nore ways.
No – I don´t think the people only needs bread and circus in order to be happy. This is a statement of power which contains abuse of power. Abuse of power might be exploding some places – and I think power abuse is being so grotesque at these times because really it is in death cramps. It´s an old unconscious way of living and it´s dying. Loving consciousness on a global scale is being born. With that happiness comes from inside, not outside.
No! not at all…only in ancient times…or sometimes back…80% of people are aware of there living purpose …they are not living only for bread and …but to know the deepest meaning of their living….they are the soul searchers…they will not sleep or eat day and night in search of just the small question arising in their mind…with the power of imagination they will create a world and they actually find the answers too….
they are the extra ordinary ones and make the simple things extra ordinary…just by being simple…they eat to live, they don’t live to eat…
He me resembles the life of the Romans.
They have bread (stable life), which gives them the happiness of the safety and longevity.
Also they have circus, this dose of violence with which the human being recognizes animal instinct and canalizes it.
I believe that ” the bread, and the circus “, for the happiness they exist yet.
In the same way as the society gives us our ” bread (stable life) “, other resources give us our “circus” (violence or playtime), the television, the writing, the video games…
But this violence or playtime is more civilized, obviously we want neither to mutilate ourselves in a Roman coliseum, nor to conquer in fights a new land.
For it the persons have “bread” or logician track in the society, and his “circus”, search of feeding all your dreams, from the violence to the philosophy, according to the mind or instinct of the individual person.
These two values, they turn into a just dose to the happiness, which obviously is more versatile and of more quality.
The almost absolute control on our own “circus” and the freedom of expression they have turned ” the cheap games of this saying ” into some kind of more amazing and diversely.
Also we have grown and accepted the responsibility of enjoying ourselves.
En una pista de baile veo varios signos de la “torre”.
Pensaria que el baile es un rito a la mism a tierra, del cual los hombres y mujeres son las propias torres, como en un ajedrez.
Una “torre” puede ser desde el Dj, o una persona que ha conectado con la música y eleva las manos, fluyendo su canal de energia positiva, con la tierra.
If I ask myself: if i only have 24 hours to live what are the things that i will do to make me happy before i leave? my answer is: LOVE. I wont choose circus nor bread. I choose LOVE. does that answe the question of the week?
Perhaps bread and circus are all we need, if we are Love, and circus includes both the witnessing and the joy of being witnessed.
Love reflecting Love.
Facinating! Out of 85 comments I read only 3 seemed to place the comment in historical context. Most of the other comments were personal. My study of the saying tells me as it does Alexandra and Bobby that the Roman rulers and ruling families used “bread and circuses” to distract the poor from the systemic limits that adversely affected the majority of the population. We have bread and circuses today in the same area of politics so that we are blinded to the issues that adversely affectes our lives. We call some of this “spin.” We have a new term in politics related to Carl Rove where lies (incuding half-truths) are truth and truth are lies. The general population seems to like this since these have influenced laws passed making the rich richer, intruding on the freedom of private conversations, defining torture so that it is not, and other such slight of hands. Whether we need them or not we as a nation, we do thrive on having them related to politics.
Perhaps you will need it to be satisfied, not to be happy.
As I interpret the quote to mean all we need is “sustenance” and “play”, I would say that this still holds true today, at a fundamental level. It’s when people begin to complicate their life that they think more is necessary. To live simply is to experience pure joy, freedom, and the essence of spirit.
Peace & Love,
Steph
I guess the Romans said something like this, give the people what to eat, drink and play and they will not revolt!
It is still valid today I guess we have to one more thing, Sex..
It is a sad truth to limit our life to merely eat and play…
I don’t know shouldn’t human be more than that?
Bread & happyness are essential, but they are not every thing that a person need.
In life there are many things which without it we feel hollow such as: Love & Self-esteeme
without love whatevever we’ve get we find our-selves in-need to something valubale, that thing which is very hard to define, since it has a lot of way ways to express it…
while Self-esteem is that personal judge on our acheivements or on things we are living for doing it. sometimes it could be persuading our dreams….
Finally food can have the same value to all people because its a need “You have to eat because you are hungry”, while Happyness is a feeling & a need. Its a feeling that varies from one person to another, also its a need since happyness is our motivative to fight in life.
Without love, you have nothing.
I believe that without having anyone to love – or not being loved by anyone, equals to unhappiness.
I believe in order to be truly happy, you need love in your life as a number one.
With love in your life facing hunger, thirst and boredom – you’ll die a happy.
And I rather live a short life – filled with love.
then a long one without it.
this is for mary…i feel yr sadness and iv been through something similar but its good to remember that what is for you wont pass you by..and although you are soul mates this dosnt mean that you are to live a life together..some soulmates only pass each other briefly…he may have come into yr life for other reasons..to teach you lessons to give you the love and strenght you needed to keep yr family together..iv just finished reading “angels in my hair” by lorna byrne its an amazing book iv realized there is a bigger picture at play and to embrace every day..hope this helps in anyway
ANIMALS ARE HAPPY WITH BREAD ALONE, THEY DON’T EVEN NEED CIRCUS !
HUMANS HAVE A MIND WHICH TROUBLES THEM, MAKES THEM ASK QUESTIONS, UNLESS ITS PUT TO SLEEP BY CIRCUS OR BY INTOXICANTS.
A MAN WHO IS HAPPY WITH BREAD AND CIRCUS ALONE IS
NOT Y E T A M A N.
love
aditya
I guess the person who quoted,”People only need,in order to be happy, to have bread and circus” must have been a man who was experiencing poverty and was envious of those around him who looked apparently happy who according to him could afford a full meal and some entertainment. I disagree with all responders who believe only love is sufficient to keep a man happy. Well, love is all-enduring but I also have come across an old saying that says,”When there is no money, love flies out of the window”. We live in a materialistic world and happiness comes with a price. Money buys us food and entertainment, they do not come for free, so when a man has money he is happy because if bread and circus alone makes people happy, its people who have money who can afford them.Come on guys, a hungry man cannot feel love…..
La pregunta me recuerda el ignominioso gobierno militar de Miguel de la Torre y Pando, que hizo de gobernador en Puerto Rico por los años 1823 a 1837. La historia se repite, sobre todo cuando la ignoramos en lugar de aprender de ella.
Como parte de su campaña para ahogar todo movimiento puertorriqueño de independencia estableció el “Gobierno de las tres B’s: Baile, Botella y Baraja”. De la Torre decía que un pueblo entretenido no se rebela.
Me parece que no es difícil reconocer que esa actitud aún prevalece en la gran mayoría de los gobiernos actuales, por no decir en todos.
I prefer cake & pantomime; but each to their own.
Reading others’ comments on happiness, the common theme is as always, Love. The love for children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends, mankind. Personally I cannot function without knowing that there is someone out there who loves me, truly loves me, warts and all. I have faith that God does this, but sometimes in life you meet someone in whom God manifests himself and become part of their soul. I met one such person with whom I have shared my most intimate secrets, hopes, fears, fantasies but we have become separated by the desire ‘to do the right thing’, to face up to responsibilities. I have three children and I know that the man I live with, their father, is a good man but I also know that I love him only as the father of my children. I believe he knows that too but we have made a silent pact to keep our home together; we have both seen the product of so many ‘broken homes’ and do not want our beautiful children to become part of that. My soulmate is a widower, although he does have a child and he means the world to me, although many would say this is wrong. I do not believe we will ever be together in this life, but it is our love that sustains me. I can only be myself for my children when I reflect on this love. Yes, we need bread and perhaps ‘circus’, but as Elisa quotes from Corinthians ‘Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things’.
Yes, I think that’s enough, together with respect, as long as there’s enough of it for everybody… We are today as simple as we were before, we just became much more bad persons…
Bread & circus along with all fortunes of our current beings would worth nothing if not accompanied with: Freedome, respect, love and the ability to dream -good expectations and hopes towards the future- .
It is rather obvious that nowadays we need more than food and fun -although some types are still living more or less unconsious. However the saying goes back to ancient times, and I presume the word “people” implies the hard working laborers, who had not time to wonder about the deeper meaning of life. To them food was the most important item and besides that once or twice a year they had a fair or a circus to look forward to. Sundays were not for playing around, because the church did not allow it.
Well, what do I know:-)
all we need is bread and circus. maybe bread is a representation of the body of christ so it could mean all we need is god and that god will provide for all we need. the circus may mean lifes journey and entertainment the many different people that we meet on our travels all with their own special tallents that everyone is unique and that we should accept this and happy with who we are and love everyone for who they are..because wouldnt a circus be boring if everyone did the same act???
Without bread we die and for sure we can’t enjoy anything, being very, really, awfully hungry. Having a bread but no circus it turns the life in a work-eat-sleep circle without any joy; here’s come the depressions. So, yes, I thing bread and circus are everything we need to be in good shape to develop all our others capacities – mental and physicals. Lucius Annae Senecae wrote that in all the periods of the humanity the culture rises where is a good life. Of course, having this two basic goods, we have to understand what we have and to not abuse with that we have (“bread” means most of the time “bread” and no “a table full of exotic luxury meals”). This is the beginning of the wisdom…
What would we do without circus. Circus is creativity, entertainment, crazynes, gossip, drama. It has been there and it will always be there, we all crave for it like we crave for bread.
The power of food and fun has always controlled the simple mind of man. Since his birth, the being has kept the same on the pinnacle of his priorities. Do you ever wonder why? Yes, food is necessary for surviving. But does it need to have such importance in our daily lives? A lot of people would say, it does. Hundreds of cuisines later, this seems a foolish question.
As for fun. The essence of human lives is in experiencing new things everyday. Since it is not possible on a daily basis, man has succumbed to the devices which accord him pleasure. the things which make him happy superficially. I say superficially because, the relevance of such frivolties leads nowhere when you are going to bid adieu to the world. Man has forgotten the greater things in life. As time transgresses, man is becoming more corrupt and deviates further away from the truth. The essence of modern life and its nuances seeps into the normal human being’s life and it poisons him. He becomes a slave to these frivolties he calls fun and pleasure.
No hay unas normas definidas y para todos que al cumplirlas te den la felicidad; unos son felices con unas cosas y otros con otras. Respecto a quienes dicen que lo más importante es el amor, decirles que estoy de acuerdo, pero no creo que todo el mundo necesite amor, por muy duro y terrible que suene esto. Creo que hay gente que se alimente con odio, venganza, ira, etc.
Si no habría gente así en el mundo, y haberla hay y mucha.
Consciente de las cosas que hay en la vida, me daría pena ser feliz con pan y circo solamente. Por otra parte y aquí me contradigo, sería genial ser feliz con tan poco.
No sé que da la felicidad, si la consciencia o la insconsciencia.
Amor
No sé si la traducción exacta es esta, la he sacado de google:
Hay un dicho muy conocido – que se remonta a la antigüedad – que establece que sólo las personas necesitadas, con el fin de ser felices, a tener “pan y circo”.
¿Crees que este sigue siendo válida hoy en día?
Contesto según esta traducción:
- Creo que no hay una respuesta única y verdadera a esta pregunta. La respuesta variaría según la personalidad de la persona pobre a la que nos refiriréramos y de sus circunstancias:
EJEMPLO:
- Un hombre vive en una chabola, en un país muy pobre de África; tiene el amor de su familia, pero todos se mueren de hambre. LLega un viajante y le dice, toma. Pan para todo lo que te queda de vida. Toma: circo. Es muy probable que este pobre hombre se sienta feliz, muy afortunado y se sienta inmensamente agradecido. Tal vez este hombre necesite sólo pan y circo al principio, pero una vez que sus deseos, éstos, le han sido concedidos, es posible que nazcan en este hombre otros deseos, otras necesidades que satisfaccer para poder ser feliz. O es posible, también, que no necesite nada más.
(De todas las maneras, creo que la naturaleza del hombre, la mayoría de las veces, claro -hay excepciones-, es desear, ansiar, querer.)
Ejemplo abstracto de esto:
Un hombre adora pescar. Nunca ha pescado nada pero tiene la esperanza de lograrlo.
- Dios, dame un regalo. !Una trucha! Sería tan feliz…-
Dios que es atento, lo ha escuchado y decide concederle el deseo. El hombre es feliz por un día.
Días después el hombre, confiado, vuelve al río a pescar. Para sorpresa suya, pesca otra vez una trucha.
- ¿Una trucha?- Dice decepcionado- Yo quería un pez más grande.
El hombre continúa pescando truchas, todos los días de su vida. Su sueño antes era pescar una vez en su vida un pez, el que fuese. Ahora que lo logra todos los días se siente insatisfecho e infeliz.
No se puede contestar. Todo depende de muchísimas cosas. Tal vez otro hombre con este sueño – pescar una trucha- no necesite pescar otro pez más grande y esté eternamente agradecido.
No hay una respuesta verdadera, creo, a una pregunta tan generalizada.
Amor.
Bread and circus -:
As I have read all of your comments with a smile all I can say is -
“As long as I have enought to eat, can play for a while, get loved in return, I have it all”
Wishing you all Gods Blessings and Love,
I don’t know about the entire circus, but I do know that the world definitely needs more clowns! And I don’t mean in the derogatory sense – not those political “clowns” .. far too many of those! We need more of those innocent, vulnerable, childlike, funny and harmless clowns. And the fact that I am a clown has not influenced my reply!
Actually in the ancient days, circus probably referred to more violent entertainment .. the Roman circus was quite horrific. I’m not sure bread and circus are what people “need” but it is what keeps them TAME.
Hi.I think it refers to the custom of cesars used in order to keep the folk quiet.They fast organized some shows with gladiators,people forgot troubles.With the same ocasion ,they organized few banquets,so the feast was complete.Is important to remember,that applies only to the people that were generally poor,humble,so not think much about culture,phylosophy or else.I think the tradition keeps going on even in our days,in my town ,streets need to be repared,traffic is a torture,park very few,polution sky-high,in few words,lots of problems.But,the mayor thought well,and use to organise public shows,spending some money to bring a band,and some fire works,near buffet,with beer so on.I mean people blinded.They dont get the meaning,this is dust thrown in the folk eyes.Maybe not bad some feast,but this is pure strategy,to distort attention from really important things.
Este mundo nos ofrece la posibilidad de sentirnos humanos. Vivir y dejar vivir.Uno con el otro, sin pedir nada a cambio. La felicidad nos debería llegar solo con el hecho de poder respirar. Somos todos tan egoistas que no nos damos cuenta de que hay un mundo ahí fuera. Sí, un mundo lleno de pequeños circos que nos hacen más llevadero el dia a dia. Y dentro de esos circos están las hambrunas y los “locales de comida rápida”. Donde estan los límites? Todo depende del cristal con que se mire y de las expectativas que uno mismo tenga.
Leyendo los otros mensajes pienso que somos todos unos soñadores. El Amor es importante, pero cuanto amor se encuentra a través de la modernidad de un Chat? Aprendamos a mirar a nuestro alrededor! Soy un ser humano solo, rodeado de gente.En un circo que es este mundo, pero gracias a Dios sin pasar hambre.
Decididamente confio en la inteligencia del ser humano. Mis respetos a todos Ustedes.
What is Happiness
The question of what is happiness conjures up an array of opinion and answers. My personal path has guided me to the words of Aristotle in his Ethics which states (paraphrased); “There are three types of happiness; That which is in pleasure which even the cattle partake in (physical level); That which is in honour but requires someone to honour you (functional plane) and; That which is in contemplation which is self sufficient (conceptual realm).
Sim! Infelizmente estão todos, em sua maioria, adormecidos como zumbis…
I think that however many people “surrender” to an easy life and refuse to fight for their dreams.
it was what happened in my country since a few time ago.
Oil crisis,and the general crisis of economy has made a little revolution. People start to be aware of the damages for the weather (that has changed) and for for their pocket too, and they stareted to think and act in a less superficial way.
Everithing in this world has a negative and a positive aspetc. So I think this is the positive aspect of the oil crisis: people have gronw up and behave in a more conscious and responsible way; they seeem to be no more interested only in “easy life” but also in their dreams. Have a nice day.
what fill our hunger and make us laugh that is nothing comparing with what we need because imagine your day depending on eating and laughing, we need to feel hunger and sorrow to appreciate eating and laughing.
We need to nourish mind, body and spirit. The circus nourishes the mind, bread nourishes the body and love nourishes the spirit. You can be happy with just love and a bit of the other two to keep you going.
Hi,
First thing we need is health
Then we need to breathe
Then we need to drink
Then we need bread
Then we need to be happy
Only circus does’nt make us happy
I need love to be happy.
Wish you love.
Have you ever heard or read this bible passage??
“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians Chapter 13
Yes… All we need is love!!! Love to either eat or feed, love to either have or give some fun!!
Love to you all!!
Elisa
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