人心原本是快樂的。這是王陽明弟子、泰州學派創立者王艮提出的觀點。王艮認為人生下來就是快樂的，而很多人之所以不快樂，就是因為這個真樂本體被一己私欲所蒙蔽，而要破除這種束縛，就要用自己內心的良知來覺察和約束私欲，通過良知的修煉沉潛消除私欲，本體之樂就會回歸，從而達到快樂之境。

Joy Is Original of Man's

Heart and Mind

　　This concept was proposed by Wang Gen, a student of Wang Yangming and founder of the Taizhou School of the Mind. For Wang Gen, all humans are born joyful. The reason why many are not happy is that their true and innate joy is blinded by their selfish desires. To break away from this constraint, they must use their inner conscience to detect their selfish desires. By the innate knowledge of good, these selfish desires can be eliminated, thus allowing the return of true and innate joy and the acquisition of a joyful disposition.

引例

　　人心本自樂，自將私欲縛。私欲一萌時，良知還自覺。一覺便消除，人心依舊樂。（王艮《樂學歌》）（人心原本是快樂的，個人欲望太盛就會蒙蔽本心。當一己私欲萌發的時候，內心的良知可以自我覺察，通過良知的覺察和調控可以消除私欲，讓人心重回到快樂的狀態。）

　　Joy is original of man's heart and mind and becomes blinded only by one's selfish desires. When these selfish desires emerge, one's inner conscience can still detect them by itself and use its conscientious reflection to uproot them, thus retaining a joyous heart. (Wang Gen: A Song of the Joy of Learning)