Signs and science of happiness

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WHO does not want to be happy? The real challenge, however, is to identify what makes one happy. Some are happy to make sacrifices and see others happy. Their happiness is rooted in their altruistic behaviour.

In contrast, others want to have pleasure and happiness for themselves – irrespective of anyone else being happy – which is a characteristic of hedonic behaviour.

Some want to be happy in this world and others patiently wait for eternal happiness in the life hereafter. For the latter group, happiness is more than a fleeting feeling or an ephemeral passion.

Aristotle, in the 4th century BCE, propounded happiness as an “activity of the soul that expresses virtue.” To him, happiness is the product of a life well lived, the summation of a full, flourishing existence, and sustained until the end to make “a complete life” – a life with purpose.

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