THE CONQUEST OF HAPPINESS
Other Books by the same Author
PHILOSOPHY
THE ANALYSIS OF MIND INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICAL PHILOSOPHY OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD AN OUTLINE OF PHILOSOPHY SCEPTICAL ESSAYS
SOCIAL SCIENCE
PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION ROADS TO FREEDOM JUSTICE IN WAR-TIME FREE THOUGHT AND OFFICIAL PROPAGANDA MARRIAGE AND MORALS
EDUCATIONAL
ON EDUCATION: ESPECIALLY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
THE PROBLEM OF CHINA
WITH DORA RUSSELL: THE PROSPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION
WITH SCOTT NEARING: BOLSHEVISM AND THE WEST
BERTRAND RUSSELL
THE CONQUEST OF HAPPINESS
LONDON GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD MUSEUM STREET
FIRST PUBLISHED OCTOBER 1930 SECOND IMPRESSION NOVEMBER 1930 THIRD IMPRESSION DECEMBER 1930
All rights reserved PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY UNWIN BROTHERS LTD., WOKING
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained, I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth. WALT WHITMAN
PREFACE
This book is not addressed to the learned, or to those who regard a practical problem merely as something to be talked about. No profound philosophy or deep erudition will be found in the following pages. I have aimed only at putting together some remarks which are inspired by what I hope is common sense. All that I claim for the recipes offered to the reader is that they are such as are confirmed by my own experience and observation, and that they have increased my own happiness whenever I have acted in accordance with them. On this ground I venture to hope that some among those multitudes of men and women who suffer unhappiness without enjoying it, may find their situation diagnosed and a method of escape suggested. It is in the belief that many people who are unhappy could become happy by well-directed effort that I have written this book.
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