What is the difference between Pleasure and Happiness?

Pleasure and happiness are two different things, though both words are used to describe our feelings when certain things happen to us. Pleasure refers to a state of being pleased or contented with something. Most times, what gives us pleasure are things that come through our five senses, i.e., taste, sight, hear, touch, and smell. We feel pleased with everything that comes with our five senses.

For example, you can feel pleased just by seeing movies. On the other hand, Happiness literarily means the emotion of being happy. Happiness is usually a product of inner fulfillment. While happiness can be caused by circumstances, it is not totally dependent on circumstances. Happiness is something that comes from within.

That is why no matter how hard you try to please yourself whenever you are feeling unhappy, you will still find yourself going back to that state of unhappiness until what is causing that feeling is addressed. For instance, you might be pleased that a friend of yours offers you a ride, but you might still be feeling unhappy about something.

Pleasure and happiness are states of human feelings that are very similar. Even if you make reference to your dictionary, you will discover that the two words are synonymous with each other in some ways. The two words: pleasure and happiness, have ‘delight’ as their synonyms in the dictionary.

However, we can start to strike some differences between the two words of we dig deeper in their usage and adjectival forms. The adjective for the word happiness is "happy," while that of the word pleasure is "please." Hence, happiness is a state of being happy, which happens as a result of some external happenings.

In contrast, the adjectival form of pleasure is pleased, which is a gentle expression that comes from the inside based on something you most likely do. So, you experience pleasure, most likely based on something that you do. But you experience happiness most likely based on something that happens to you. It can be your pleasure to help someone, and it can be a thing of happiness when someone helps you.