Happiness Mindset

ContentsIntroduction.....................................................................................................................................................................................2

True Happiness.......................................................................................................................................................................2

Chapter-1: Doublelift Interview ePubcafe...................................................................................................................................5

Chapter-2: What it Means to be Happy.....................................................................................................................................27

Making Peace with the Past..................................................................................................................................................29

Facing the Future with Confidence.......................................................................................................................................32

Living in the Present with Joy................................................................................................................................................33

Chapter-3: Culture and conception of Chinese happiness.........................................................................................................36

Results and Discussion..........................................................................................................................................................43

Overall Reflections : The American VS. The Chinese Conceptions of Happiness...................................................................47

Happiness Two Ways to Achieve : When East Meet West....................................................................................................49

Chapter-4: Happiness Quotes Happiness..................................................................................................................................60

Life........................................................................................................................................................................................ 75

Love.......................................................................................................................................................................................81

Work.....................................................................................................................................................................................89

Wisdom.................................................................................................................................................................................94

Concepts of Happiness..........................................................................................................................................................99

Introduction

True Happiness

Why do you do what you do? What motivates you to be successful, have relationships, go to work, to take up hobbies, spend time with friends or go on holiday? What is it that you are really looking for? The answer given by at least 90 per cent of the people I ask is happiness. As William James, the father of modern day psychology said, ‘how to gain,

how to keep, how to recover happiness, is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive of all they do’. Happiness turns out to be, along with love, peace and wholeness our deepest longing.

 

The Gift of Happiness 

Quite simply happiness not only feels good, but it’s good for your health, your relationships, your work and our society. Happy people have more fulfilling lives, experience a deeper sense of connection to others and to nature and they consistently perform at higher levels than those who aren’t happy. Happiness provides us with the fuel to thrive and flourish as human beings. Society, business, families and our planet need happy people.

 

But what exactly do we mean by happiness?

 

 ‘Normal’ HappinessGenerally, when someone says they are happy they mean they are satisfied with their life and that they are experiencing a preponderance of ‘pleasant’ emotions, such as contentment, pleasure, joy, enthusiasm and delight (and relatively few ‘unpleasant’ emotions). I call this type of happiness ‘normal’ happiness.

Normal happiness is very much connected to what is going on in your life. If your relationships are going well, you have money in the bank, your health is good and you are successful at what you do, the chances are you will experience normal happiness. The clue that it’s normal happiness is that it is conditional upon certain things being the way you want them to be. If you are made redundant unexpectedly or your partner is upset with you and your sense of happiness and well-being disappears, you know that the happiness you were experiencing was normal. The other hallmark of this type of ‘normal’ happiness is that when we pursue it we often focus on short-term gains at the long-term expense of our health, relationships and personal growth; for example, working round the clock in pursuit of success and money, but neglecting out health and intimate relationships. The pursuit of normal happiness is grounded in the belief that happiness exists outside of us.

True HappinessTrue Happiness is worlds apart from ‘normal’ happiness. True happiness describes a deep sense of inner well-being, peace and vitality that is with you most of the time in most circumstances. People, who experience true happiness, feel a deep sense of gratitude for simply being alive. Unlike normal happiness which comes and goes and is dependent on certain things happening, true happiness is independent of our life situation. This doesn’t mean you don’t feel anger, or sadness or fear, in fact the opposite is often the case. Truly happy people have the ability to feel

those emotions deeply and fully, but they don’t lose sight of themselves as they do, they remain aware and present to their thoughts and emotions without getting caught up in them.But is experiencing true happiness simply a case of changing our thoughts, practising gratitude, being kind and living mindfully as some experts suggest? My experience is this – they are all important and all have a part to play, but alone they simply aren’t enough to experience True Happiness. For True Happiness we need to fundamentally change our way of being in the world and change the way we live our life. It’s about shifting from

 believing and being identified with the stories our head tells us to

resting as the awareness of those stories

fighting reality to living in alignment with reality

being limited by our beliefs to being empowered by our beliefs to living beyond beliefs

avoiding, sedating and resisting our emotions to welcoming our emotions

holding onto the past to letting go of the past

living a unfulfilling life to living a meaningful and fulfilling life

neglecting our health and needs to taking care of our health and needs

improving ourselves to accepting ourselves

identification with the ego-self to living as the true Self

tolerating toxic relationships to creating healthy conscious relationships

looking for love to giving love

getting for me to giving for the greater good

overcomplicating our life to simplifying our life

Put another way – it’s about growing up and waking up.

Growing up is about realizing your potential and becoming an emotionally mature adult( most adults at an emotional level feel and act as adolescents or young children).

Waking up is about living with greater present moment awareness and acceptance anddiscovering and embodying the true Self (our true nature) and bringing forth its gifts, talents and potentials into the world in a way that enriches and enhances the world. Being in alignment with the true Self enables us to access our deepest creativity, experience a deep sense of inner well-being, peace and vitality and to actualise our personal and professional potential. This is the master key to True Happiness.

Chapter1.Doublelift Interview ePubcafe

Doublelift: …..Chinese happily. Welcome to “Doublelift 360 Interview” Mr. Ichu Peng your class teacher (experts) . I’m your instructor

Ichu Peng: Welcome all of you.

Doublelift: Welcome. Well let’s this welcome today’s 10 students in our program. Welcome all of you. After going to know everyone today I’ve found that Ichu Peng you’re radiant with joy recently. Something happy must have happened.

Ichu Peng: Seeing that student’s passion of learning Chinese rises so high I’m really overjoyed.

Doublelift: Indeed you look exceedingly excited.

Ichu Peng: Look Happiness appears on your eyebrows. People are in high spirits. When involved in happy events.

Doublelift: But it’s a thing we both should be happy about. Now let’s begin our class. With boundless joy. Don’t just applaud. What we just said isn’t for nothing.

Ichu Peng: What word will study today? Do you know after hearing what we said?

Student : It should be Xi (happiness)

Doublelift: Are you sure? Are you sure? Student: 99%

Doublelift : Where is the remaining 1% ?

Agree. Agree count you as 1% ?

Student : Yes. The word we’ll study today is…

Ichu Peng: Let’s speak it out together it’s…

“Xi (happiness)” .

Doublelift: This is a happy word a happy lesson.Yes. Please tell us something about the word of “Xi (happiness)”

Ichu Peng: This character has changed dramatically. The top is a part of “Gu (drum)” and the bottom is “Kou (mouth)”. “Gu (drum)” playing the drum beating drums and striking gongs which represents cheerfulness.

Doublelift: And the bottom is “Kow (mouth)”. What does it mean?

Ichu Peng: It means happy expression must be transmitted through speaking. The top part of this character looks like ”Ji ( lucky)” now. The top part is actually in a shape of “Gu (drum)” character on bones or tortoise shells in ancient times. From the period of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells to the present the shape of this character hasn’t changed much.

Doublelift: But from ancient times to the present this character has always means happiness.

Ichu Peng: It always means happiness .

Doublelift: Always the same meaning, right?

Ichu Peng: Yes, it has always meant happiness. Therefore, this character is an associate compound containing such an idea.

Doublelift: OK. Then let’s take a look at its evolution from an inscription on bones or tortoise shells to the present glyph. Come on.

Ichu Peng: The character of “Xi” on bones or tortoise shells is an associative compound. It can be divided into two parts. The upper part is “Gu (drum)” and lower part is “Kou (mouth)”.

The upper part is the initial shape of “Gu (drum)”. Its upper part looks like a frame for hanging musical instruments the middle part is the drum body and the lower part is drum stand.

Because the drum can make people happy and the “Kou (mouth)” part of “Xi ( happiness)” means it’s related to speaking. Happy feelings are always shown in talking and smiling. The original meaning of “Xi ( happiness)” is happiness and joy. From inscription on bones on tortoise shells to inscriptions on ancient bronze objects and even to Small Seal Script the glyph of this character hasn’t changed much. In the clerical script of Han Dynasty the part on behalf of a frame for hanging musical

instrument has been changed into a horizontal stroke. In regular script it inherits this glyph. So far the glyph of “Xi (happiness)” has been stabilized.

Doublelift: I think that nobody dislike the character of “Xi (happiness)” . A lot of people paste paper cuts of “Xi ( happiness)” at home.

Why ?

Ichu Peng: The character of “Xi ( happiness)” looks joyous in itself.

Doublelift: People are happy just by seeing it.

Ichu Peng: It should said Chinese is a very optimistic nation. Some scholars believe that Chinese culture can be summarized as a culture of delight. It means viewing everything from an optimistic perspective. First of all from the foundation of the Chinese nation and its culture because people have to face a lot of. In the process of labor and production people have to face a lot of difficulties. How to solve problems in the face of difficulties?

The best way to solve problems is to resolve from the attitude perspective before from the perspective of tools. What does the attitude refer to?

It refers to happiness which means facing everything with a happy attitude and solving everything in a happy way. So the happiness has become a very basic state of mind of the Chinese people. Therefore, the character of “Xi (happiness)” actually plays a very important role of an emotional symbol in the Chinese culture.

You see we Chinese people lay stress on “blessing” “affluence “ “longevity” “happiness” and wealth”. Among these , happiness is an inner joyful feeling. But the sign of double happiness only appears in marriage. So it just implies a meaning that a male and a female are combined into a family.

They become a family. In the Western culture two people become a spouse and get married but they are still independent individuals. So we often see that Western girls can beast about their own thousands abilities and success. But Chinese women don’t do that. When someone praises your husband you may say “thank you thank you “ Why?

Because you think you and your husband as a whole. The character of “Xi ( happiness) expresses a meaning that two people join together and fuse into one. It feels as it two people are holding hands and standing together.

Doublelift: Probably in our Chinese culture it has become such a deep-rented concept. When we see such a pattern such a sign of Chinese happiness we’re full of joy.

The sign of character “Fu (fortune)” is always pasted upside down meaning that the fortune comes. Can the sign of double happiness be pasted upside down?

Ichu Peng: Not everything can be reversed. If the sign of the character “Xi ( happiness)” is reversed the reverse side is sadness.

Doublelift: I’m wondering whether such a sign of “Xi” is pasted in foreign families. I certainly don’t mean the sign of “Xi” character.

Right. Is there something similar?

Are there any particular special symbols?

Student : In my father country Azerbaijan when people get married they have to tie a red cloth.

Doublelift: A cloth?

Student : Tie it to their doors.

Doublelift: Tie it to the door . hang it on the door.

Student : It should be red or white. The red and the white have a big difference to China.

Doublelift: A red one or white one.

Student : They are both OK. But a must be well... Fastened.

Doublelift: A red cloth and a white cloth have to be tied together.

Student : No, no, no. Just one of them A red one or white one. But it has to be tied hard. A little tight.

Doublelift: It’s quite different in our country. In some national cultures , the white is allowed.

Ichu Peng: For example in South Korea in wedding the bride the bridegroom and their parents have to wear white gloves.

Doublelift: Right, Right, Right, I’ve seen a lot like this.

Ichu Peng: It’s similar to flag raisers in our childhood.

OK. We’ve talked about so much. Let’s make a phrase first to see how much you have known about the character of “ Xi”

Doublelift: It’s a long awaited time, Today is a happy day. We should think more happy things. Okay here is some student Irina It’s my first time to meet Irina in the program.

Ichu Peng: Really. Are you sure?

Doublelift: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Ichu Peng: You asked me. You thought you got the wrong person?

I thought I had a bad memory. Ok is this your person?

Doublelift: Right.

Ichu Peng: What does it mean? Can you guess?

Doublelift: No. I can’t.

Ichu Peng: Why it’s quite simple.

Doublelift: Ok. Let me tell you. This is my classmates name. Once I see the character of “Xi” I think of him. Because he is a very happy person.

Can it be considered as a phrase?

Isn’t it?

Ichu Peng: It indicates that the character of “Xi” is quite common in Chinese names people are particularly fond of using the word.

Doublelift, You know someone with such a name?

Student: Yes, I have a friend with the name of Xi er.

Ichu Peng: Are you sure she’s your friend?

Or she’s on the stage?

A friend. For example Liang Sanxi. We all know roles like Wang Jinxi. In rural areas names like “Xilar ( happiness comes) and Manxi ( full of happiness) are very common.

Doublelift: I just saw the phrase written Zheng Xianxue could you tell us what you wrote?

Student : Xi Mai ( pulse manifestation of pregnancy).

Doublelift: I asked him if he knew its meaning. Do you know what his answer was?

Student : I was interested in traditional Chinese medicine and studied it in school before. I have no such a pulse.

It’s impossible for me to have.

Xi Mai ( pulse manifestation of pregnancy).

It’s impossible for me to have.

Doublelift: He should traditional Chinese medicine so he knows it.

Ichu Peng: Yes. Xi Mai ( pulse manifestation of pregnancy) is also called Hua Mai ( slippery pulse). It means that the pulse feels like beads roll in veins. So it’s called Hua Mai ( slippery pulse). Why does it feel like beads roll?

Because there are two pulses it feels like beads roll over on a slide board.

Doublelift: Zheng Xianxue wrote Xi Mai ( pulse manifestation of pregnancy). What Xiaoyu wrote is Xi Tang ( wedding candies). You’re interested in this word.

Student Xiaoyu: When I got married in China I encountered many problems that I didn’t understand.

Doublelift: You got married in China. Your wedding was in China

Student Xiaoyu: In China to a Chinese man.

Doublelift: To a Chinese man. To a Chinese boy. Congratulation!

You’re a Chinese wife. You’re interested in the Chinese custom.

Student Xiaoyu: Yes, yes, yes.

Doublelift: What do you not understand?

Student Xiaoyu: In my wedding I had to propose a toast to many people. There was a lot of food on my bed such as eggs red dates, lotus seeds. Dried lengans and wedding candies. My husband rode a horse to escort me to the wedding. I don’t understand all the those things.

Ichu Peng: You were asked to eat lotus seeds (Lian Zi) peanuts (Hua Sheng) , red dates ( Hong Zao) and dried longans (Gu Yuan). It means may you soon have a son ( Zao Sheng Gui Zi). They want you to have a baby early so that your husband’s parents have a grandchild. They want you to be pregnant early.

Student Xiaoyu: Right.

Ichu Peng: To have pulse manifestation of pregnancy. And you had to propose a toast to quests. The bridegroom has to take the bride to propose a toast to everyone.

This is a must. You have to drink when toasting. In that day it’s actually to make a happy occasion. Everyone makes fun of the bride actually in order to highlight a happy atmosphere. Your husband rode a horse. Because in the past people often rode a horse to boast about the glory of being an official. It means when you get to be an official you have to ride a horse and walk in the streets to show off yourself. Later it’s extended to that in wedding in the folk the bridegroom should ride a horse in front and hold a red line which links to the bride and the bride sits in a sedan. The bride’s head has to be covered with a red cloth and can’t be seen by others. Did you drape a red cloth over your head ?

Student Xiaoyu: Yes. A red cloth I didn’t dare to do anything. I just said, “Be carful ! be careful!

Doublelift: Then every student do you have anything similar in your countries?

Edward : In the Indian wedding Xi Yan ( wedding feast) is very important. Yan ( cigarette) or Xi Yan ( wedding feast). If food in the wedding feast isn’t tasty or sufficient for both parents of both the bride and the bridegroom it’s a very shameful thing.

Doublelift: Hua Jiade what you wrote is Xi Xiao (laughing happily). What does it mean?

Hua Jiade : Xia Xiao means laughing happily.

Doublelift: I think you just wrote a half. Do you ?

Hua Jiade : Well , I think just by seeing your head portrait. I really want to laugh.

Doublelift: It has a comic effect. Look lifeoma rocks forwards and backwards with laughter. Ok we seem to have heard of “Xi Xiao Yan Kai ( lighting up with pleasure). But is there such a usage of breaking it in half generally ?

Xi Xiao (laughing happily) .OK .

Ichu Peng: Xi Xiao (laughing happily) is also OK. But it’s needed less used. Usually when using Xi Xiao (laughing happily) the character of “Xi (happiness)” is generally added with a radical of “Kou (mouth)” , Xi Xiao (grinning) is usually used. When using Xi Xiao ( grinning) it must be Xi Xiao Nu Ma( making fun of and cursing angrily). In Xi Xiao Nu Ma (making fun of and cursing angrily), the character of “Xi” is with a radical of “Nu ( female)” . This word has a meaning of teasing . Nu Ma means either making fun of or getting angry. There is a saying goes like a stimulating style of writing makes even merry laughter and angry shouting delightful reading . It’s used to indicate that a person’s writing is amazing Xi Xiao ( laughing happily) he wrote just refers to laughing with happiness and joy. As for “Xi” with a radical of “Kou ( mouth)”. It’s generally used in Xi Xiao ( laughing happily) or Xi Xi (hee hee). It’s generally used in a word group. It’s a tone word. When we used send text messages and sometimes really don’t want to continue anymore, we may send a message of Xi Xi ( hee hee ) at last. No , we usually send a message of ho-ho. Right.

We usually send ho-ho.

Doublelift: Right. Sending Ho-Ho is useful. In his heart he actually wants to continue to chat with the other side.

Ichu Peng: If you send Xi Xi ( hee hee) the other side will give a feedback.

Doublelift: You see for the same happy event there are different customs in different countries. Through making a phrase we’ve also learned about the differences between different cultures in different countries.

Ok let’s give applause to our ten students again.

Ok. It seems that everyone has known something about the word. Thus let’s make a sentence.

Now let our audience join us and set an example for our students.

Ok. Children . Which child? This one this one.

Several people are raising their hands . very enthusiastic !

What grade are you in?

Child: Grade Five.

Doublelift: Grade Five . What’s your sentence?

Child: Grandma and grandpa came to Beijing from another place to congratulate uncle and aunt on Nong Wa Zhi Xi ( the happiness of having a daughter ).

Doublelift: “Nong Wa Zhi Xi” I’d like to ask you a question. Did your uncle and aunt have a daughter or son?

Child: A daughter.

Doublelift: OK. “Nong Wa ( having a daughter)” and “Nong Wa Zhi Xi” ( the happiness of having a son).

Ichu Peng: In Nong Xhang ( having a son) , Zhang refers to the jade pendant and also refers to something worn by gentlemen. Because people wanted boys to be officials after growing up. In the ancient tradition if someone was an official he should wear a jade pendant at the waist or over his waistband. Wa actually refers to the spindle not the tile on walls. It doesn’t mean being a brick layer in the future. Wa refers to the spindle. So Nong Wa Zhi Xi means that may girls do spinning and manage the affairs of the family in the future. It’s their background.

Doublelift: So it has no implication of preferring boys to girls.

Ichu Peng: No.

Doublelift: One is a jade and the other is a tile?

Ichu Peng: No, no . It has nothing to do with that. It also doesn’t mean going to the roof of the house and uncovering tiles. It also has nothing to do with that.

Doublelift: They have different implied meanings.

Ichu Peng: Yes.

Doublelift: “Xi ( happiness)” has a lot of usages and can be combines with a lot of words. Mr. Ichu Peng, Please give us a summary .

Ichu Peng: “Xi” has three kinds of meanings generally adjectives , verbs and nouns. For example Xi Ai ( love) is a verb. Word groups expressing happiness are adjectives. It also can be used as a surname. For example , In “A Highly Skilled Doctor of Xi Laile ( a TV play)” it’s a surname. And in these three kinds of meanings there are many derivative word groups associated with happiness.

Doublelift: OK.

Ichu Peng: I think they’re miscellaneous.

Doublelift: Lifeoma Come on Read it.

Student Lifeoma: Men never understand Xi Nu Ai Le ( pleasure anger sorrow and joy) of Hai Xi ( being pregnant)

Ichu Peng: I won’t talk about your written characters first.

Doublelift: Well I’m wondering if women off the stage are applauding .

I see, look ! people applauding are all women. And they are all mothers.

You appreciate it as if you have experienced it. You just got married didn’t you?

Student Lifeoma: Yes.

Doublelift: Why do you have such a deep feeling?

Student Lifeoma: It hasn’t happened to me but happened to my elder female cousin.

Doublelift: What happened?

Student Lifeoma: When she shouldn’t speak she would yell. When you didn’t think, she would like something, she would like them very much. She was quite different from usual. There were no any reasons. You all nodded. Anyhow men may not understand women’s Xi Nu Ai Le ( pleasure anger sorrow and joy) of Hai Xi ( being pregnant).

Doublelift: In fact when women aren’t pregnant men may not understand women’s Xi Nu Ai Le ( pleasure , anger , sorrow and joy) either. It’s hard to understand. You didn’t finish writing the character of “ Jie in Li Jie ( understand). The vertical in the middle.

Student Lifeoma: I forgot it. I lost it .

Doublelift: It doesn’t matter. Because you HaiXi ( are pregnant) we didn’t understand your Xi Nu Ai Le( pleasure, anger , sorrow and joy) .

Student Lifeoma: I have a question.

Doublelift: You have a question.

Student Lifeoma: Yes, In the word group of Xi Nu Ai Le ( pleasure , anger, sorrow and joy ) Xi and Le have the same meaning. Why?

There should be four kinds of emotions.

Ichu Peng: I have to talk about the problem at the character of Nu you wrote first . If you didn’t say that I would let it go.

Since you said that the radical of the character Nu wasn’t at the right place . I have to tell you the structure is wrong.

Student Lifeoma: It should be up-down structure.

Doublelift: Now what you wrote is left-right structure

Ichu Peng: I think her question is good. In the word group of Xi Nu Ai Le Xi and Le still have differences. Because Le ( joy) can most often be reflected in the face. But Xi ( pleasure of happiness) is a kind of mood in the heart. So sometimes the reverse side of Le ( joy) is Ku (crying). Which is an act. But the reverse side of Xi ( pleasure or happiness) is Ai ( sorrow). Which is a sad mood that can’t be expressed in the heart. Even If I have the pleasure in my heart I may not necessarily show joy in my face. So people with joy may not necessarily be happy in their heart. They’re not quite the same. One is shown in the face and the other in the heart. They’re different emotional expressions.

Doublelift: Ok. Let’s take a look at other students.

Who forgot to take medicine?

Tell us about it. Come on. What’s wrong with Edward?

Happiness appears on Edward’s eyebrows.

Student Edward: It seems that he forgot to take medicine again.

Doublelift: Why did he forgot to take medicine because happiness appears on his eyebrows?

Student Edward: Well, I saw his eyebrows kept moving about in the morning and he looked quite happy . I don’t know why he was so happy.

Ichu Peng: Because when we are delighted we will show it in the external emotional performance. When we are delighted , our corners of eyes are raised. We actually also raise our eyebrows. They move as a whole. If I’m not delighted now but I do such a facial expression in the eye of others.

I look joyous and happy . So the five sense organs on the face work together.

Doublelift: If only one moves and others don’t move it’s a quite terrible thing .

I have a question . There is a Chinese saying Hong Bai Xi Shi ( the red and white happy events) wedding and funerals. The wedding is certainly a happy event. But isn’t it a very sad thing that someone passed away? Why is it also considered as a happy event?

Doublelift: Hong Bai Xi Shi ( the red and white happy events) Shaina should understand more. Tie a red cloth and a white cloth together. It represents a happy event Right?

Hong Bai Xi Shi ( the red and white happy events)

Ichu Peng: A lot of white happy events in China generally refer to funerals of the long-lived elderly Xi Sang (happy funeral). If the long-lived elderly passed away many families may even wear a sign of “Xi (happiness) to indicate that it’s a happy event and there was an old man of longevity in my family. In the past, we did a survey of the Lisu people in Yunnan. It was very poor in the mountain but when there was a happy funeral all villagers in the village especially men wore suits to indicate that this was a very solemn and important thing to commemorate in the eye of Chinese people. After a person died he has to be buried. He died but his family still continues. His children are still growing. So Chinese people respect their ancestors their elder generations. Respecting them is also, respecting their contribution to the family. He didn’t die. He will be forever remembered. The Chinese culture is indeed extensive and profound.

Student : In my country since my childhood. I’ve laughed or cried as I like. But after I came to China, I found many Chinese people told me that when I worked outside or contacted with others I I should Xi Nu Bu Xing Yu Se (concealing delight and anger)

Doublelift: Xi Nu Bu Xing Yu Se (concealing delight and anger) . But you’re demonstrative in your country.

Student : We’re straightforward. We laugh or cry as we like.

Doublelift: You get angry as you like. What’s your question?

Student : Why did Chinese people give me such an advice?

Why do Chinese people always conceal their happiness and unhappiness?

Why do Chinese people tell him to conceal delight and anger?

You see Mr. Ichu Peng , are you happy or unhappy now?

Now I don’t know whether Mr. Ichu Peng is joyful or joyless.

Ichu Peng: Well. Your question is quite critical. Not only for Chinese people actually for Asian people undemonstrativeness is a tradition. Why?

Because Chinese people pay attention to the Doctrine of the Mean.

What’s the Doctrine of the Mean?

There is a very important statement being mournful but not distressing. It means you can’t be excessively mournful.

Don’t make a huge cry or cry without limit. Don’t do that. Why?

It damage health. It’s bad for health. But you can’t be wild with joy when something happy happened. So Chinese people advocate a life attitude of moderation. Ancient Chinese people believed. The Confucian School thought that such a life attitude of moderation was relatively healthy . You can be angry but don’t be excessively angry. You can be sad , but don’t be extremely sad. You can be happy but don’t be overjoyed. Otherwise extreme joy is easy to beget sorrow. Under such guiding ideology undemonstrativeness arises out.

What does it mean?

It’s actually beneficial to interpersonal harmony. When you’re angry don’t show it in the face at once. When you’re happy don’t show it in the face at once. But later it has evolved into a kind of situation that a person looks calm and seems to be very sophisticated. He can’t be seen through. He’s undemonstrative. I think this person is very cunning. In fact, speaking of the undemonstraveness we talk about their countries are more inclined to the low context culture. It means I just express the emotion in my heart directly. Many Asian countries, including China belong to the high-context culture. It requires that my inner thoughts have to be consistent with the external world. So I have to deny myself and return to property. In fact, the undemonstrativeness has two implications.

One is what I talked about. It’s a positive side. It’s helpful to show a person’s calmness and self-control. But on the other hand if people judge you as undemonstrative it actually also has a negative and derogatory sense. Such a person is considered as too sophisticated. The ancient believed that this was a relatively healthy life attitude. In fact sometimes people shouldn’t be depressed. Because when something happy happens to you, you should share with others.

When you’re angry you should find a vent. Even if you take relationship into account and can’t directly go off someone you have to find a vent. Otherwise, repression is also very bad for mental health.

Doublelift: I think that just by speaking the feelings of joy can’t be expressed. Thus let’s invite them to show what they look like exactly where they’re happy or when they’re joyful.

I don’t know either. Look at the large screen. Right, Let them show it.

Show it to us in practice.

We don’t understand just by talking about it.

On the large screen there are many phrases and idioms.

You choose one first by yourselves. Perform it first. Then tell us which one you choose.

Saina have you chosen one ? Don’t tell us first. Don’t tell us perform it first.

Saina : Hello! I won. Really ! Wow! I won.

Doublelift: Do you know which one she performed?

Ichu Peng: Xin Xi Rua Kunag ( being mad with joy) Right?

Student Saina : Yes.

Ichu Peng: very successful. We got it.

Doublelift: I thought she performed Qie Xi( the state of chucking to herself) .

Ok.

Student : Is this thing done? It’s done. Ok

That’s Ok.

Can you do it? Can you?

Yes. Ok.

You really can’t do it like this. What did you think of?

I see. Ok.

Which one did you perform?

I performed the state of Xi Nu Wu Chang ( being subject to changing woods)

Doublelift: Xi Nu Wu Chang ( being subject to changing woods). I think you played the role of an abnormal boss.

Ok. Next Irina.

Student Irina: Is it true? Oh, my god !

Oh, my god !

Doublelift: everyone has guessed it. What did you perform?

You looked like catching a cold.

Student Irina: Not catching a cold.

Doublelift: What did you perform? The audience has guessed it. Student Irina: It’s Xi Ji Er Qi ( being so happy as to weep)

Doublelift: Xi Ji Er Qi ( being so happy as to weep)

Student Irina: Yes. Being so happy as to weep.

Doublelift: So it’s not catching a cold.

Student Irina: I want to tell you that for foreigners. For example , passing the level six examination of Chinese proficiency test is the happiest thing.

Doublelift: What test?

Student Irina: The level six examination of Chinese proficiency test.

Doublelift: The level six examination.

Student Irina: Yes,

Doublelift: Do you think we Chinese people are easy? To pass the College English Test Band 4 and 6 isn’t easy. Because they learn Chinese now and have to take the Chinese Proficiency Test.

Student Irina: Yes. For us passing is a very happy thing. So when seeing the result of passing it I cried.

Doublelift: Wait a minute .Wait a minute . Did you pass it?

Student Irina: Yes.

Doublelift: You have passed it. So you’re so happy as to weep. Good very good.

Doublelift: Look at our students. Someone was happy for passing some examination. And someone was happy for writing a big prize in a lottery. Let’s watch and find out , what kinds of things would make the ancient Chinese people happy.

Come on, let’s watch!

Ichu Peng: In ancient times, the most important two things for adult men were the Imperial Examination and marriage. It was said that Wang Anshi passed the Imperial Examination in the capital just before encountering a beauty and getting married with her. Faced with success in career and love. Wang Anshi wrote the character “Xi ( happiness)” by wielding a brush meaning having passed the Imperial Examination and getting married. Two happy events came at the same time. Later on, someone added another two lines turning it into “ a sweet rain falling after a long drought encountering an old friend in a distant land getting married passing the Imperial Examination” which were considered as the four happy things in one’s life circulating up to today.

Doublelift: The four happy things Mr. Ichu Peng also talked about the four happy things. These were moments when the ancients felt happiest.

Ichu Peng: A happy life entails these four happy things. Then you feel happy .

The Chinese people have many plans for their life. For example, typically we think our life should include the four happy things.

Of course, it has nothing to do with “Four Happy Balls”. But from the perspective of one’s life especially for men in ancient times life was consummated with the four happy things. Typically, it wasn’t the case for women. It was the case for relatively successful men.

First, for example when were you most successful?

It was when you passed the Imperial Examination and became the No.1 Scholar. That was the happiest thing in life. And that very night happened to be the wedding night as you married a very good and beautiful wife.

And what else?

The other two happy things were irrelevant to this. Take “encountering a old friend in a distant land” for example I worked hard on the outside for one year and meet Han Jia , Guan Jian and Xiaojun , who are all my old friends.

This was a also happy thing .

And what was the last happy thing?

It was “a sweet rain falling after a long drought”. It wasn’t very much relevant to individuals. It was a blessing for the common people. Three drops of rain fall after the one-year-long drought.

It was a happy thing, anyhow, right?

In a word the ancient people endowed the character “Xi” with many connotations.

Doublelift: The four happy things in life we’re talking about actually represented the common people’s judgment of happy events as well as values at the time.

In fact for us we have a higher level understanding of the character “Xi” reflecting one’s manner and attitude which is “Wen Guo Ze Xi *being glad to have one’s errors pointed out)”

What does it mean?

If our students point out your errors or give you suggestions,

What will you do?

Why is Irina so happy?

Did someone criticize you?

Student Irina : Of course , those who are glad to have their errors pointed out are unusual. So I’m unusual.

Doublelift: You’re extraordinary .

Student Irina : I’d like to share a story. This year I was assigned to take charge of the newspaper in our school. When the first issue was printed of course, many people liked it and many didn’t. I liked those who didn’t like it because they would give me better advice.

Doublelift: So that you could improve the newspaper.

Student Irina : Yeah ,. Yeah

Doublelift: So this is a modern example personal example explaining meaning of the idiom “Wen Guo Ze Xi” .

Ichu Peng: That’s right.

Doublelift: Who else wants to say something?

There you are Hua Jiade

Stident Hua Jiade : I agree with what she said. If someone criticizes you it means he cares about you. You can figure it out yourself or have a heart-to-heart talk with him to see whether you have such a shortcoming. Maybe you have this shortcoming in the first place or maybe yours behaviors have made him see this shortcoming in you. It’s not his problem. It’s your problem.

Ichu Peng: The ancient people stressed on “Wen Guo Ze Xi”. Hearing someone advising you , you should be glad. That is a higher level of virtue than that of ordinary people.

Why should you be glad?

Because they are helping you progress.

For example , Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty was a renowned emperor. Once, an official of Emperor Renzong of the Song said to him that “ Your majesty I heard that several beautiful girls were recruited into the Imperial Harem and after you get close with them you didn’t care much about national affairs. So I think Imperial Harem could have maids but not too many. And I hope your Majesty will not get too close with the maids after recruiting them.” Upon hearing it Emperor Renzong was glad and said that “I know you are saying it for my good” So, After the court was dismissed Emperor Renzong gave an order arranging these girls to do other things outside of harem. So the example shows that many politicians were glad to have their errors pointed out. Ordinary people don’t like others giving them advise but why did these people accept it?

It was not an emotional reaction. None of emotional people would like it. It was a rational reaction. Actually being angry to have one’s errors pointed out is the reaction of ordinary people.

We tend to be self-protective by drawing an advantages and avoiding disadvantage. But being glad to have one’s errors pointed out was more of a higher-level quality advocated by the ancients. Chen Yi once said that “ A true friend is valuable as he dare criticize you to your face”. It means a true friend will criticize you to your face. Then you can learn your shortcoming and weaknesses from it. So it is a higher-level virtue for us.

Doublelift: But for modern people it may have posed very high demands for both parties. The person being criticize should be glad to have his errors pointed out, while the criticizer must mind the approaches. Sometimes when you think too much.

Ichu Peng: Yeah, but you must notice whether he was really glad after you criticize him if he got angry, you’d better leave him immediately. There are also those people who have a poker face.

Yeah, if you found he still kept a poker face after you criticized him for a long time then it was likely that he was going to raise a hand against you. Corrects mistakes if you have made any and guard against them if you have not.

Doublelift: So there by taking advantage of this opportunity both of us have a request to our audience. Please stay tuned to “Happy Chinese” and at the same time we hope you can feed back about where we haven’t done well. So that we can improve it and produce a better program for you. You can give us your advice. We have talked about “ Wen Guo Ze Xi“. That is to say when someone gives you advice you should accept it gladly.

Ichu Peng: In fact in our life, many things should be kept in a reasonable scope. We’d better not be greatly influenced by the oustside world or surrounding things. So we often say” Bu Yi Wu Xi , Bu Yi Ji Bei “ ( not pleased by external gains not saddened by personal losses). It is kind of close to “Xi Nu Bu Xing Yu Se”( concealing delight and anger)we just talked about. That was put forth by the ancients representing a very peaceful mind.

That is to say , I won’t get overjoyed because of gaining something nor will I sink into tremendous grief for losing something. So actually it is a detached and cool lifestyle that some people are pursuing. It is an important psychological capital referred to in psychology.

As a matter of fact, it is also an important means for modern people to possess happiness. That means to have less expectation. In common people’s words it is to chillax.

Doublelift: Yeah, speaking of chillaxing and “Bu Yi Wu Xi , Bu Yi Ji Bei” we just mentioned it reminds me of a story. There was person shouldering two basketfuls of teapots to sell them and when the climbed a slope two of the teapots fell out form one basket and broke in shatters. Someone nearly said to him. “ Why are you still advancing? Look, the teapots fell out from your basket and broke in shatters.” Then that person said very calmly. “Since they’ve fallen out and been broken now could I fix them by stopping. What use has it for me to stop?”

Pick them up and throw them into the trash can I wonder what thoughts you will have after hearing this story. Or do you admire that person’s attitude?

Student Zheng Xiangxue : For me usually when something sad or terrible happened to me I also take it easy and simply let it go.

Doublelift: Let bygones be bygones

Student Zheng Xiangxue : Yeah, Let bygones be bygones. Compared to being struggling and grieved. It’s best to be optimistic. Let bygones be bygones. right?

Doublelift: I think this sort of mindset is necessary. It’s worth learning Hua Jiade .

Student Hua Jiade : I think a Chinese idiom is well said, “misfortune might be a blessing in disguise” .

The happy things happened to us may not necessary be blessings and vice versa. I can see you are broadminded.

Doublelift: Very good I think Hua Jiade’s interpretation of it is fair enough. Don’t take the bygones to heart but focus on the status quo. Doing the present job well is most important. Since we have discussed much just now. I think our students have learned or comprehended a lot of things.

Well what comes next is a classroom based test.

Come on look at the first question.

Well it’s a choice question “Xi Xi Ha Ha ( laughing merrily) , Xi Xi Ha Ha Xi Xi. They all pronounce the same ,

Yean.

Anyway they all pronounce the same Hua Jiade once asked about this question about the differences among these three characters.

Like what Mr. Ichu Peng just said, whether you did listen carefully depends on whether you will choose it correctly. The chance is all of the ten students those A.

Irina hasn’t raised her board.

Student Irina : I’m done I chose that one.

Doublelift: All right. All of the ten students chose A. It shows that all of you listened carefully. Really?

Come one let’s check the correct answer.

Congratulations everyone.

Congratulations. Well done.

Come on, look at the second question.

Gong He Xin Xi ( Happy New Year)

Which character is correct?

All of them seem correct.

C It is double “Xi” meaning wedding , right?

Student : B also means happiness.

Doublelift: Right.

Some people chose C . A, B,C are all chosen. Only Fei Xiangchun chose A.

Which one on earth is correct?

Please check the correct answer.

The answer is A . Truth exists only in the hands of a few. Fei Xiangchun. Not pleased by external gains not saddened by personal losses. Keep a poker face. I can’t help laughing. Mr. Ichu Peng please tell us about this character “Xi”.

Ichu Peng: Some people may think that “Gong He Xin Xi” was composed of the double “Xi”. But we know , typically the character of double “Xi” never appears in phrases. It can only be used as it is not in phrases. The second option seems correct for “Gong He Xin Xi” at the first sight , but it’s not. For example “Xin Xi Nian”( a new millennium) that we say is composed of that of A. Attention it has a radical “Shi” is its left.

What does “Shi” mean?

It means a ritual sacrifice. The radical “Shi” is very important. It’s not ” Yi ( clothing)”. If there were two dots, it was “Yi”. If has one dot. Just one dot. So this “Xi” actually carries the meaning of sacrifice and ritual. So this character is correct. Typically, when we say “Xin Xi Nian” and “Gong He xin Xi” , we use this character.

Doublelift: Let’s go on with the next question.

Which one is correct?

Xi Xiao (laughing happily), Xi Xiao ( grinning) , Xi Xiao ( making of fun) ?

This is the question you asked Hua Jiade. If you chose wrongly you shouldn’t get wrong on this question.

But as we have seen all of the three option are chosen. Some chose A and some chose B.

Zheng Xianxue is unconfident.

Just which one is correct?

Come on let’s check the correct answer.

The Answer is C .

Some people weren’t listening carefully .

Mr. Ichu Peng has explained this question/ Which one did you chose Hua Jiade?

Student Hua Jiade: C

Doublelift: Correct. This question was put forth by Hua Jiade just now so we won’t explain it again.

Well, let’s turn to the next question.

This is a new question type. But I believed everyone is very familiar with it.

Who will have a try?

Ok . Zheng Xianxue

Student Zheng Xianxue : As spring festival is approaching streets are full of “Xi Qi Yang Yang ( jubilant)” people.

Doublelift: Streets are full of jubilant people.Quite good.

Who else wants to have a try?

Student Hua Jidade: The bridal sedan chair is arriving soon and the messenger gave a loud shout “Huan Tian Xi Di ( being in raptures)”

Doublelift: Good.

Student: I remember last week Fei Xiangchun wasn’t able to work out that sentence.

Doublelift: You want to have a try?

Student: Yes.

Doublelift: Go ahead. Years later, when Fei Xiangchun met his first love in Beijing again he felt “bei xi Jiae Ji ( bittersweet)” .

Could you tell us why he felt bittersweet.

Student: He screwed it.

We need to ask Fei Xiangchun about this.

Student: Yes.

Doublelift: How did you feel?

Did you feel like that?

Student: Yeah.

Ichu Peng: You’re good at acting Fei Xiangchun should say that, “Years later Fei Xiangchun met his first love in Beinjing again and then they had a dinner joyfully. Later, after this pair of quarrelsome lovers came out from the restaurant jubilantly and cried around they sank into sorrow all of a sudden and felt bittersweet. After a while , their joy anger sorrow and happiness all burst out”.

Doublelift: Brilliant. That’s really brilliant. If that was the case , Fei Xiangchun would be too busy.

Emotions had to change very quickly. That was just a practice to see whether you could use what you have learned today in the actual situation. All right. Then we’re going to play a new game. Come on please come onto the stage every student.

Ok.

The game we’re going to play is “finding partners”. Look each of them has two characters on their own boxes with one in the front and one on the back.

Come on Hua Jiade , show everyone. It has a characters on the back.

So, we will run two circles clockwise and two anticlockwise. It is to let you see others front and back characters so that you can match them afterwards. But there is a requirement that the phrases you make must have the character “Xi”. Now I’ll tell you some “good” news. There are ten of you and you can be divided into five groups. But there are only four characters of “Xi”. So one group definitely will be punished. Only when you act faster will you win out. Are you ready?

Come on, run clockwise. Look carefully which characters are in front of you. Look carefully everyone.

Look carefully and land out where the characters of “Xi” are?

Ok. Turn around anticlockwise.

Well have you found out?

Ready. Three, two , one.

Ok. Form into groups of two. Ok. You two were left. Pair up.

It’s Ok if you can make a phrase. You can make a phrase.

Student group 1 : Tong Tang.

Tong Shi (colleague)

Well , stay there and don’t move. Come on here is your reward.

Although you’ve made a phrase our rules is require it includes the character “Xi”. So you two acted a bit slowly. Well come here and have a test.

Ok. Next group. Saina.

Well what is the phrase you made?

How to pronounce it?

Student group 2: Xi Que ( magpie).

Doublelift : No its Que Xi.

Student group 2: Its reversed.

Doublelift: Its Xi Que.

Student group 2: Yeah .

Doublelift: But she was supposed to stand by your right side. “Xi” was supposed to stand here while “Que” over there. Come on try to do it right. Come over here. Look you won’t be punished since you’ve made it right.

That’s right.

To celebrate that you family got it right you can hug each other.

Student group 2: We can’t.

Doublelift: Actually you can make another phrase . Have you noticed it?

Student group 2: What is it?

Doublelift: Turn around Gao Shan. Turn around.

Student group 2: Yeah, Turn around. Yeah.

Doublelift: “Xi Jiu (wedding feast) is also a phrase.

Student group 2: “Xi Jiu”

Doublelift: Well. Thank you.

Come one next group. What is it?

Student group 3: “Xi Ai (love)”.

Doublelift: Can you make another phrase?

Student group 3: “ Xi Huan (like)”

Doublelift: You can change your positions.

Student group 3: Huan Xi(delighted)

Doublelift: Change your positions.

Student group 3: Ai Xi ?

Doublelift: No.

Student group 3: Huan Xi( delighted).

Doublelift: Right. Hug each other.

Doublelift: Thank you. Ok. Next group. What is the phrase you made?

Student group 4: Bao Xi ( announcing good news)

Doublelift: Are you sure?

Student group 4: Should I change my position.

Doublelift: Will you change? Either way is OK.

Student group 4: I’m asking you!

Doublelift: Either way is OK. It’s up to you.

Student group 4: Both “Bao Xi” and “Xi Bao” (good news) are right.

Doublelift: both are right. Well Congratulations. Well you turn around and let us see the other character.

Wait you stay there and don’t move.

“An Xi ( felling happy secretly)” is also a nice try. Right Jialan turn around and let us see the other character “An Jing ( feeling startled secretly)” is also do. All right Come on hug each other.

Next group.

What phrase did you make?

Student group 5: Gong Xi ( congratulation).

Doublelift: What else can you make?

Student group 5: Dao Xi ( Congratulate)

Doublelift: What is it?

Student group 5: Dao Xi

Doublelift: look Hua Jiade is here. Get down Zheng Xianxue. You come over here. Come here.

Student group 5: Xi Shi ( happy events).

Doublelift: Xi Shi. What is it if you turn around?

Student group 5: Xi Tang ( wedding Candy)

Doublelift: I Tang is also right. It doesn’t matter. Hua Jiade was just slower so he didn’t find “Xi”.

It was just because Hua Jiade acted more slowly.

Well. Thank you Please give a round of applause to the ten students.

All right, we have discussed the character “Xi” happily in the class. Everyone has learned it well. Now let’s invite our experts to give a summary for us.

Ichu Peng: In Chinese culture the character “Xi” is very distinctive. When you see it you will smile with pleasure or feel happy in your hearts. So when we were learning it we could have the feeling of happiness brought about by the culture. Meanwhile, this culture will also guide us to do more happy things. Very soon China’s Spring Festive is approaching I wish everyone a happy Spring Festival and a happy reunion with your families. May you be happy and prosperous.

In China, happiness is not only an emotional status it also refers to the culture of happiness. So the dream the Chinese people have been pursuing for generations is actually pursuing more happy events in our life and more joy spiritually. As a matter of fact , in Chinese culture happiness is completely a Chinese dream.

Doublelift: Good. Then what have our students learned from it?

Come on Saina.

Saina: I fell the phrase “Wen Guo ze Xi” we’ve learned today is very interesting. And also I think “Xi Qi Yang Yang” is especially cute

Doublelift: “Xi Qi Yang Yang”Saina: “Xi Qi Yang Yang” it is very cute.

Doublelift: Very cute? Pleasant Goat is also very cute.

Ok Edward.

Edward : We have learned a lot about the character “Xi” today. According to what they told us. I know there are many similarities between happy events in China and in India.

For example , red is the color for happy events. Yeah both are red.

Chapter 2. What it Means to be Happy

Happiness is almost a national obsession these days. The self-help shelves of bookstores are filled with entries that promise to

help you find or achieve happiness. The field of positive psychology has highlighted the importance of subjective well-being,

which is the general sense people have of their good feelings and life satisfaction. Businesses are focused on the idea that

happy employees are productive employees and that the goal of most businesses is to surprise and delight consumers.

In this context, we rarely think about what the word happy really means. If you are a native speaker of English, then you

probably assume that you know what it means to be happy. You probably also assume that people around the world share a

similar idea of what it means to be happy (though they may differ in what makes them happy). Finally, you probably believe

that the general concept of happiness has been similar for humans for eons (though, again, the particular things that might

have made people happy a few thousand years ago are not the same as the things that make people happy now).

A fascinating paper by Shigehiro Oishi, Jesse Graham, Selin Kesebir, and Iolanda Costa Galinha in the May, 2013 issue

of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (link is external) explores what it means to be happy both across

cultures/languages and over time within the United States.

This work demonstrates that there are big differences across cultures in what the termhappiness means. There has also been

a drift in the meaning of happiness for Americans over the past 200 years.

To explore the meaning of the term happy, the researchers collected the term (or sometimes terms) for happiness that are

used in 30 different countries. Many of these countries represented different languages (French in France, Chinese in China),

but there were several countries in which there was a common language (English is spoken in both Australia and the United

States; Spanish is spoken in Argentina, Ecuador, and Spain). They got these terms from informants who provided the best

word (or words) used to describe the concept of happiness. The researchers also provided their sense of the most

authoritative dictionary in that country.

Research assistants than explored aspects of the meaning of the words for happiness across languages.

A striking observation is that in 24 of the 30 countries, there was a strong element of luck associated with the meaning of the

term happiness. In English used in the United States, there is minor use of the term to mean luck (“That was

a happy accident.”), but generally happiness in the US refers to an individual emotional state. Other countries also had a

component of the meaning of happiness that referred to the positive emotional state.

Another interesting observation from this analysis was that the further countries are from the equator, the more that the luck

aspect of happiness emerges. The authors speculate that in colder climates, the environmental conditions play a bigger role in

success and well-being than in milder climates.

Two other analyses examined changes in the use of the term happy in English over the past few hundred years. One analyses

demonstrated that the use of the words happy and happiness in State of the Union addresses by US presidents has declined

over the years. In addition, there has been a shift. In the 1800s, when Presidents talked about happiness, they were referring

to luck and prosperity. By the mid-to-late 1900s, though when Presidents talked about happiness, they were referring to the

positive emotion of satisfaction.

A second analysis looked at how often books in the United States talked about a happy nation versus a happy person. That is,

if happiness is a circumstance associated with luck and prosperity, then we should talk about it in reference to groups like the

country. If happiness is an internal emotional state, then we should talk about it related mostly to people.

To explore this question, the researchers searched for the phrases happy nation andhappy person in the books in English

books published in the United States in the Google digital database between 1800 and 2008.

In 1800, people were much more likely to talk about a happy nation than a happy person. The number of references to a

happy nation decreased steadily throughout the 1800s, and by 1900, it was relatively rare. Starting in about 1925, there was

an uptick in the use of the term happy person.

There are two interesting aspects to these data analyses. First, there has been a shift in the US from a focus on happiness as a

state that is caused from the outside through luck and prosperity to an internal emotional state that is under the control of the

person. Second, the view that happiness involves strong elements of external forces like luck is still common around the

world, even if it is not common in the United States.

This issue is important, because much of the scientific world uses English as the basis for describing key psychological states

and processes. If English is a little quirky in the way that it uses one of these terms, that can have a profound influence on

what science believes it should be studying.

Finally, even if you are not a scientist, it is important to realize that there are many components to happiness. If you are

feeling sad, then you may be prone to focus on what is wrong with you that makes you unhappy. When you realize the role

that life situations play in happiness, though, it helps you to see how changing your environment can also change your outlook

on life.

Making Peace with the Past

“Make peace with your past so it won’t destroy your present.” ~ Paulo Coelho

There are many things most of us try to keep hidden from ourselves and from those around us, things that caused us so much pain and suffering. Things that are perceived by our minds as being dark, ugly and painful. Things that we would rather forget they once happened. Things we would rather keep buried deep down inside than bring back to the surface. But the truth of

the matter is that until we don’t come to terms with what happened, until we don’t cleanse ourselves, until we don’t heal all our past wounds and until we don’t bring light into our once dark world, the past will continue to haunt us. And those painful experiences will continue to have power over us and we’ll continue to be their victims.

“Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls your life…….” ~ Akshay Dubey

According to the Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist Carl Jung, everyone carries a shadow. There’s a dark side to all of us, and as long as we continue to hide, repress and isolate this side of us, our darkness will continue to influence ourselves and the way we live our lives. And we will continue to be its victims.

“We carry our past with us, to wit, the primitive and inferior man with his desires and emotions, and it is only with an enormous effort that we can detach ourselves from this burden. If it comes to a neurosis, we invariably have to deal with a considerably intensified shadow. And if such a person wants to be cured it is necessary to find a way in which his conscious personality and his shadow can live together.” ~ Carl Gustav Jung, “Answer to Job” (1952).

We live in a world where people are ashamed to face and confront themselves, their past, their hurts and their wounds. A world where a lot of people pretend to be happy when they’re not. Taking great care of the image they have in the eyes of the world. Painting the outside in bright and shiny colors when the inside is in ruins.

We care more about what other people think of us than we do about how we feel.

How sick is that?

We spend most of our lives desperately trying to run and hide from who we are deep down inside. Thinking that by keeping ourselves busy with all kind of meaningless things and by living our lives the way everyone around us live their lives, we will eventually be happy. But we will never be happy unless we take out the garbage, and unless we don’t bring light into our dark inner world.

“If you bring forth that which is within you, then that which is within you will be your salvation. If you do not bring forth that which is within you, then that which is within you will destroy you.” ~ The Gnostic Gospels

In the Four Noble Truths espoused by the Buddha, we are taught that suffering is part of the human condition. The first noble truth, teaches us that pain is part of the human condition. And as long as we try to avoid confronting those things that once caused us pain and suffering, we can’t really heal ourselves and our lives. In fact, the more we try to hide, repress and isolate past painful experiences, the more we prolong the suffering.

The second truth teaches us that we must get to the root cause of our suffering. We must find the courage to face ourselves, our shadows and our hidden wounds so that we can allow the healing process to begin.

“We often hold the tacit assumption that all of our suffering stems from events in the past. But, whatever the initial seed of trauma, the deeper truth is that our suffering is more closely a result of how we deal with the effect these past events have on us in the present.” ~ Peter A. Levine PhD

The third noble truth tells us that all wounds can be healed while the fourth noble truth states that, once you have identified the root cause of your suffering, you must find an appropriate path that will help you heal.

There are so many things you can do to make peace with your past and heal your life and I have to say that one of the most important things is to learn to be alone with yourself and fully accept all that you are. And once you can do this, all the other things will come so easily and effortlessly.

Take time to know yourself and heal yourself. To make peace with your past and to make peace with yourself. Spend less time trying to impress people who aren’t worth impressing and more time alone with yourself. Get to know yourself for who you truly are and not for who you think others expect you to be.

“If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of the same. The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence. The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

Get in touch with the parts of you that are still hurting. Take the heavy burden of your past from your heart and place it on a piece of paper. Ease your pain by writing about your innermost thoughts and feelings in a journal that only you have access to. Bring to the surface all the past experiences that are sabotaging your happiness and your life.

If you can do this alone, see if you can talk to a trusted friend, a family member or even a therapist.

Allow yourself to be vulnerable in the relationship you have with yourself and the relationship you have with others. Open yourself up only to those people who have earned the right to hear your story. Only to them and no one else.

Set time alone each day, if you can’t do it daily at least once or twice a week, to converse with the younger part of you. The you that experienced the pain and suffering. Ask for forgiveness from that part of you and work on forgiving those who might have hurt you also.

Meditate in the morning and meditate in the evening before going to bed. 5 or 10 minutes or if you can, do it for more.

Pray, if you can and if you want to, for strength, for courage, for wisdom and for healing. Ask to learn the lessons you need to learn and ask for help in releasing the heavy burden of your past.

Talk to your Soul, and ask your Soul to lead the way. To guide you and to give you the wisdom, power and confidence to make peace with your past, face your shadows, and heal your life.

Spend time alone in nature, to renew, refresh and restore yourself. To really notice the beauty that surrounds you and to recognize the miracle and magic of life in all that you see and all that you are.

Take deep breaths throughout the day and make sure you are always present in the now. Whenever you feel yourself drifting, you can use the same words I use, learned this from the buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh, to bring yourself back into the present moment:”

Breathing in, I calm body and mind.

Breathing out, I smile.

Dwelling in the present moment (breathing in),

I know this is the only moment (breathing out).

Do these things and many others. To heal yourself and to heal your life. To make peace with all that happened and to move on with your life. Make peace with your past, and the past will stop sabotaging your happiness and your life. And remember: “In virtually every spiritual tradition, suffering is seen as a doorway to awakening. In the West, this connection can be seen in the biblical story of Job, as well as the dark night of the soul in medieval mysticism.” ~ Peter A. Levine PhD

Facing the Future with Confidence

In this information age, it seems the more we know, the less we are really sure of! Experts tell us our families are disintegrating, our global economy is tenuous, and random violence is on the rise. Is it possible to live confidently in such confusing times?

Across industries, emerging technology and the realization of a truly global economy are transforming the way we work, and the rate of change speeds up exponentially with each workplace skillspassing year. Employees today are constantly asked to develop new competencies and master entirely new ways of relating to their work, their colleagues, and their environment. When you work at the cutting edge of innovation, staying relevant means staying at least one step ahead. It’s exciting, but it’s also a challenge. How can you anticipate the skills you’ll need most in the next decade? Is it possible to peer into the future?

In the absence of a crystal ball, focused research and expert analysis are your most powerful source of foresight. In the most recent issue of 360° The Business Transformation Journal, Devin Fidler’s article “Tomorrow’s Work Skills” examines the most influential and disruptive changes we’re facing, and the vital skills you’ll need for career success over the next ten years.

The march of automation, outsourcing, and global expansion continues, and new transformations are on the horizon: the “smart revolution” is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the future interconnectivity of our lives. Every day, the drive towards true innovation becomes more urgent and more complex. Creativity, critical thought and quality communication have always been important factors in employability, but if you want to stay on top, you’ll need to develop these skills in unfamiliar directions.

It sounds like science fiction, but as technology evolves and everything gets smarter, the importance of specifically human proficiencies will only grow. The continual renegotiation of the human versus machine workload will bring out a stronger focus on novel and adaptive thought, and the value of unique insights will be higher than ever. You can expect technical skills to grow in importance. Even in more traditional roles, vast streams of information and the demand for dynamic content will demand a high level of new-media literacy. Dealing with, understanding, and leveraging the massive inflow of data will require strong digital design skills, computational thinking, and the ability to develop tools and techniques for thriving in the midst of cognitive overload.

Globalization is revolutionizing the working landscape and raising up a whole new generation of necessary communication skills. A global workforce needs the ability to collaborate virtually, strong cross-cultural competencies, and extraordinary levels of social intelligence. Global challenges demand trans disciplinary collaboration. A worker who can command these skills will have a firm foundation for achievement in the next decade and beyond.

The upcoming technological and demographic shifts of the next decade are set to shake up the workforce in a serious way. How will you respond? How flexible can you be? Do you have what it takes to flourish? Get a glimpse at the challenges and opportunities up ahead by exploring the insights of “Tomorrow’s Work Skills.” You’ll come away with a deeper understanding of exactly what you’ll need to make your mark on the future.

Living in the Present with Joy

Many authors have written on the advantages of living in the present and how it can promote happiness. It has been found that people who tend to dwell in the past and worry about the future are not very happy. They miss the present as they are constantly preoccupied by thoughts of past, old hurts, and grudges. This leads to anger, unhappiness and depression. In order to be happy, it is very important to let go of old grudges and enjoy the present moment. Past is something that is beyond our control and it cannot be changed. We can only learn from the past and avoid the mistakes we made. However, when we dwell on those past mistakes, it generates negative feelings like anger, resentment, hatred, and feelings to take revenge from the perpetrator. This becomes a road block for our happiness and we feel insecure and lose our capacity to enjoy the present moment.

Our mind tends to produce thoughts on a constant basis, which are either of the past or the future. These thoughts are the source of our everyday tension. The past drives us backwards while the future pushes us forward. The mind does not know how to remain in the present and this is the primary source of depression, anxiety, guilt and worry.

What is this present moment and how do we define it so that we can enjoy it? The present is eternal because it renews itself constantly. Most of our reflections are of the past. We do not live in the present. An emotion is a thought linked to a sensation. The thought is usually about the past or the future, but the sensation is in the present. Our mind tends to link sensation with thoughts. As adults we learn to deny ourselves the immediate experience of an emotion. We learn about shame, guilt and sorrow and they throw us out of the present and take us in the past or the future. In order to feel the present, it is important to consciously feel the emotion, experience it fully and then release it.

Our emotions arouse two sensations, pain and pleasure. All human behaviors can be boiled down to these sensations. According to Anthony Robbins, a renowned motivational speaker, we naturally seek behaviors that give us pleasure and avoid things that give us pain.

When we focus on the present it allows us to release the pain as soon as it occurs. When we pay attention to our feelings, we assume the role of being an observer and it facilitates an insight and awareness. You become comfortable with the pain as you begin to honestly feel it. No one can hurt you unless you give them the permission to do so. The hurt comes when you give meaning to the situation in your mind. It is helpful to know that you can live beyond this meaning and interpretation when you stay in the state of witnessing the present and do not allow the pain to penetrate inside. It appears to be hard when you first start doing it but as you continue the efforts, you become competent.

It is important to pay attention to your feelings. Be aware of your low moods when you do not feel uplifted and charged up. Gently observe your thoughts. If you notice that you are being too hard on yourself and have drifted in the past, don’t allow your thoughts to continue to berate yourself and pull you away from happiness. It is important to understand the power of your moods in order to stay in the present moment. When you begin to believe in your thoughts that appear when you are in low mood, you will be afraid to stay in the moment and are more likely to drift in the past or the future. Because when you are in low mood, you will have negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity. You will have the urgent need to change your affect immediately. Therefore, it is advisable to ignore your self defeating thought patterns for the time being until you feel charged up again. Decisions made when you are in low mood, can be impulsive and may not yield intended results. Too many future and past worries tend to distort your vision and distract you from the present moment. In order to stay focused, concentrate, and achieve your goals, it is crucial to become present moment oriented.

Happy people tend to remain in the present regardless of what happened in the past or what might happen in the future. Happy people understand that life is really nothing more than a series of present moments to experience and they make the best out of these moments by paying attention to them and staying focused versus being distracted by thoughts of past and future. Happy people are also grateful and contended for what they have. They do not spend much time worrying about the future, fretting over the losses and painful experiences.

Lot of people carry the weight of the past and they live with this baggage all their lives. When we give too much emphasis to the past, it produces fear in the present and the weight is carried in the present moment. By the time we become adults, we are so much burdened by the weight of the past that we lose our normalcy and develop chronic depression and other dysfunctions. However, it is possible to escape this when we learn to live in the present and stop dwelling in the past. One can cultivate this habit and train the mind to do so. With practice, it becomes easier. Conscious awareness is also important to cultivate this habit. The realization that you are dwelling in the past is needed and then you can work on how to change the focus and live in the moment. When our mind spins forward and back ward and constantly dwells in the past, we can actively observe our mind and make some adjustment and give auto suggestion to pay attention to the present. It is helpful to make statements like, “Here I go again”, I am doing my old thing again –dwelling in the past”,” It is not going to help me”. Thus by interrupting the thought pattern, we can keep our thinking in the right frame of mind and bring our attention back to the present.

When we focus on the present, we can eliminate the fear. For example, financial problems health related worries can be reduced when you bring your attention to the present, and keep your attention in here and now. You need to be alive and remain in the present at all times. The past has gone and the future is unknown therefore living in the past is unproductive and meaningless. For example, a lot of people go on vacation but when they arrive at their destination, their mind is not actually in the present. Although they were there physically but mentally they did not capture the beauty of the nature, enjoy the scenery, and engross in the moment. Most of the time they were planning for the future and remained occupied with their business problems and relationship issues. It is important to look at the moment, accept the present, identify with the present moment and feel happy. When you are using all your five senses to dwell in the moment, you will be able to appreciate the beauty of nature and remember those moments. Children have this capacity but they lose it as they grow and become more occupied with thoughts of past and future. It is relevant to quote here the lyrics of the song written by Pearl Jam with regards to the importance of living in the present:

“Do you see the way that tree bends? Does it inspire? Leaning out to catch the sun’s rays, a lesson to be applied. Are you getting something out of this all-encompassing trip? You can spend your time alone, redirecting past regrets, oh. Or you can come to terms and realize. You’re the only one who can’t forgive yourself, oh.

Makes much more sense, to live in the present tense. Have you ideas on how life ends? checked your hands and studied the lines. Have you the belief that the road ahead, ascends off into the light? Seems that needlessly it’s getting harder to find an approach and a way to live. Are we getting something out of this all – encompassing trip?—Makes much more sense, to live in the present tense. (Eddie Vedder)”

Generally speaking, we believe that the past creates the present and the present creates the future. In order to enjoy the present moment, you might want to envision your future and see yourself in that future. Take the memory of that future and insert it in the present .If you imagined a future with no thoughts of worries about the past and future, live that vision now. If you get troubled with thoughts of fear, and anger, reject those memories and relive vision of your future memories. This practice will improve your potential to stay in the present moment and experience the pleasure. People who are depressed and anxious can also benefit from this practice. It is possible to train your mind and the power of mind is amazing. Vivid visualizations can temporarily fool the mind and give you the pleasure as if it is happening in reality. Writer has discussed the concept of visualization with guided imagery in other blogs also, like Panic Disorder, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

In order to find happiness one has to fully experience life. For example, looking at the maps of destination vacation will not give you the pleasure of actually visiting the place. When you visit the place, you can actually derive pleasure by driving on those scenic routes, looking at the lakes, fountains and mountains. The experience leads to real happiness, and it is inherent in the present moment, not in the past or the future.

People who suffer from chronic depression and anxiety should cultivate the habit of living in the present. They are deeply stuck in the past, and it is hard it to get out of their thoughts and feelings. Past is not in your control and you have not seen the future so you do not have any control over the future. Present is the only moment that you have control over and you can make the best of it by paying attention to the present moment and focusing on here and now. I also recommend the book written by Eckhart Tolle, entitled “The Power Of Now” to the readers. This book really explains the importance of living in the moment and how it is beneficial to get over your past which could have been traumatic and painful.

In summary, my advice is to start observing your thoughts. Are you focused on what you are doing right now or have your thoughts drifted to the past or future? You will probably catch yourself drifting many times during the day. However, do not let

this disappoint you. This number will reduce significantly as you begin to observe your thoughts regularly. Additionally, you will discover that you will feel more contended and happy when you stay in the moment. This positive experience will give you the confidence to carry on the observation in the future and also increase your potential to stay focused in the present.

Chapter 3. Culture and conception of Chinese happiness

ABSTRACT. Adopting a cultural psychological approach, we believe that culture and SWB are most productively analyzed together as a dynamic of mutual constitution. We outline a cultural theory of SWB to systematically analyze conceptions of happiness as embedded in both Euro-American and Asian cultures. Our cultural theory posits that distinct and different character- istics of the conceptions of happiness are prevalent in Asian and Euro-American cultures. For Asians, socially oriented SWB emphasizes role obligation and dialectical balance; for Euro-Americans, individually oriented SWB emphasizes personal accountability and explicit pursuit. The present paper provides empirical data on American conceptions of happiness and contrasts these with previously collected Chinese data. Both similarities and differences were ob-served and were in general consonant with our theoretical propositions.

KEY WORDS: conceptions of happiness, cultural psychological approach, individual oriented SWB, social oriented SWB.

Consider the following quotations:

a. Happiness is a mental state. Only when the spirit is rich, the mind is peaceful and steady, is happiness possible.

b. For me, happiness can be defined in four aspects: (1) free of physical sufferings, illnesses or disabilities; (2) being socially acceptable, getting along well with other people, being respected and cared for, not being isolated; (3) free of worries and hardships, being able to live a carefree and joyful life; and (4) possessing a healthy, normal mind, being accepted by the society.

c. Happiness is absolutely great and one of the most important states of

being a person or living thing could ever pursue. The pursuit of happiness

is one of my supreme goals in life.

d. To me happiness is doing and being who I want to be without being held

back by the restrictions of society. Happiness is a reward for all the hard

work you employ.

These four statements were extracts from essays written under the title of ‘‘what is happiness?’’ All of the respondents were university students of the same age, though, as it happens, the first two students were Chinese and the last two were American. In some respects, these definitional accounts of happiness are similar to one another; they all consider happiness as a desirable, positive inner state of mind. At the same time, there are some distinct differences between them and between other Chinese and American accounts. For example, the Chinese accounts seem more solemn and introspective, with more emphasis on spiritual cultivation and psychological transcendence. The American accounts, by comparison, seem more uplifting, elated, exciting, and show more emphasis on enjoying life in the physical sense and present time. Furthermore, the Chinese students appear to desire a more balanced life, with social expectations finely integrated into their sense of well-being. The American students, in contrast, appear to uphold personal happiness as the supreme value of life, and blatantly assert individual agency against social restrictions.

In this paper we take the position that the conception of happiness is a critical aspect of subjective well-being (SWB), which has largely been neglected thus far. We then set out to ask whether there are systematic differences between American and Chi- nese conceptions of happiness, and what such differences might mean.

Because meanings and concepts are molded by culture (Bruner, 1990), it seems necessary to explore what people think about happiness as embedded in the world of meanings/values construed by a unique cultural tradition. Drawing on the rich heritage of the Chinese culture, our recent study (Lu, 2001) systematically explored both philosophical thinking and students’ spontaneous accounts of happiness. Such a vantage point is in distinct contrast to the predominant Western cultural perspective in most SWB research. That endeavor was also among the first attempts to bridge the gap between scholarly theories of SWB and ordinary people’s lived experiences and deeply held beliefs about human happiness. Although exploratory in nature, the result is a clear map of the psychological space of Chinese happiness. The present paper continues this line of enquiry, analyzing conceptions of happiness as embedded in both the Euro-American and Asian cultures, and providing empirical data on American conceptions of happiness to be contrasted with our previously collected Chinese data.

Our views of culture and human behavior are consonant with the cultural psychological approach, whose goal is to examine the ways in which culture and the psyche intersect and interact (Markus and Kitayama, 1998; Shweder, 1991). The cultural per- spective assumes that psychological processes – in this case the nature and experiences of SWB – are thoroughly culturally con- stituted. Thus, culture and SWB are most productively analyzed together as a dynamic of mutual constitution (Kitayama and Markus, 2000).

Furthermore, a cultural psychological approach does not automatically assume that all behavior can be explained by the

same set of constructs and measures, and enquires first whether a given construct is meaningful and how it is used in a given cultural context. In other words, a Western conception of SWB should not be superimposed on other cultures; instead, indigenous concep- tions of SWB bred in particular cultural contexts should be unraveled and systematically mapped out. This is exactly what we attempted in our systematic examination of Chinese SWB-related concepts and ideas in the Tripartite of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, as well as our detailed description of people’s lived experiences of happiness (Lu, 1998, 2001; Lu and Shih, 1997).

Nonetheless, the predominant Western conception of SWB is itself one of the indigenous conceptions. Its cultural contexts, tacit understandings, implicit assumptions, invisible commitments, as well as its lived experiences for ordinary people need to

be ex- plored and contrasted with other indigenous conceptions such as those of the Chinese. In the following sections, we will adopt this cultural psychological approach to outline a cultural theory of SWB and incorporate some much needed data to help refine it.

Our central thesis is as follows. Culture can be a major force constructing the conception of happiness and consequently shaping its subjective experiences. In particular, members of dif- ferent cultures may hold diverse views of happiness, covering definitions, nature, meaning and ways to strive for SWB. Culture also constrains preferences for different types of SWB (individu- ally oriented vs. socially oriented), and thus prescribes different sources and conditions of SWB for its members. Beyond such

direct impact on SWB, culture also influences SWB in the way it gives shape and form to the self. Different self views (e.g. inde- pendent self vs. interdependent self) function as regulatory mechanisms when the individual attempts to judge his or her well- being. These self-regulatory mechanisms guide the individual to attend to and process information pertaining to certain aspects of the environment emphasized by the culture. Such mechanisms also determine how people think, feel and behave in the pursuit of SWB.

As an additional point of interest, in a time of cultural fusion, people living in the collectivist East are learning to adopt cultural values, self views, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors from the West. Consequently, they may now subscribe to both individual and socially oriented conceptions of SWB, and have access to both Eastern and Western repertoires of striving for SWB. A parallel trend in the individualist West in the opposite direction may be less salient due to a certain asymmetry in cross-cultural impact, not least because the very nature of core values at issue inclines Westerners to impact more aggressively on their environment, including other cultures.

One approach guided by this cultural theory of SWB is to look at various ways of achieving SWB for people living in individu- alistic and in collectivist societies. We have proposed that these pathways start from a particular self view, proceed through cor- responding beliefs about social relations, then through subjective experiences generated in actual social interactions, to lead even- tually to SWB. This pan-cultural multiple-way SWB model was largely supported by empirical evidence (Lu et al., 2001b, 2002). For both Chinese and British people, an interdependent self was a very strong determinant of harmony beliefs, as well as primary and secondary control beliefs, whereas an independent self was a strong determinant of primary and secondary control beliefs. Furthermore, for both groups, beliefs about social relations af- fected experiences of daily interactions, which in turn contributed to SWB. Thus, it was shown that these various ways of achieving SWB were independent and pervasive across the two markedly contrasting cultural groups.

Another bi-cultural individual level analysis also showed that values closely related to the core of collectivism, such as ‘‘social integration’’ and ‘‘human-heartedness’’ led to greater happiness for the Chinese but not the British (Lu et al., 2001a). All the evi- dence suggests that culture impacts on SWB through multiple mediators and complex mechanisms. Specifically, the degree of congruence between people’s individual psychological culture and the larger cultural environment within which they live may be crucial for psychological adjustment. If the larger cultural tradition is individualistic, people with an independent self may find it easier to achieve SWB. If, in contrast, the larger cultural tradition is collectivistic, people with an interdependent self may find it easier to achieve SWB. This is exactly what we have found in our above reported series of studies. Ratzlaff et al. (2000) have also reported some preliminary evidence suggesting that a discrepancy in cultural values may be important in predicting health and well-being.

Yet another line of research that can be developed following our cultural theory of SWB is to look directly at meanings of SWB for people of different cultures. A cultural theory of SWB is useful in this respect because it points up the weakness that most current theories of SWB and research practices (e.g. selection of possible mediators such as self-esteem) are rooted in Western philosophical presumptions. As Kitayama and Markus (2000) point out, well-being is a ‘‘collaborative project’’, in the sense that the very nature of what it means to be well or to experience well- being takes culture-specific forms (Shweder, 1998). These varia- tions can make a difference not only for the meaning of SWB, but also in the ways that people achieve and maintain well-being, as already shown by our series of studies (Lu, 2001; Lu and Shih,

1997; Lu et al., 2001a, b, 2002). In the following section, we will contrast two such cultural systems of SWB: Asian socially ori- ented and Euro-American individually oriented SWB.

EURO-AMERICAN INDIVIDUALLY ORIENTED SWB

The study of SWB has mostly developed within a Euro- pean American framework, and it incorporates a web of tacit understanding and implicit assumptions that are shared by both researchers and participants (Markus and Kitayama, 1998). Borrowing Suh’s (2000, p. 63) metaphor of ‘‘self as the hyphen between culture and subjective well-being’’, the construction of self and the participation of self in social institutions and the daily lived world may hold the key to our understanding of the meaning of happiness in various culture systems.

Western Euro-American theories of SWB are firmly based on a highly individual self concept. Geertz (1975, p. 48) gave the most vivid description of a person from a Western point of view. He described the person as ‘‘a bounded, unique, more or less inte- grated motivational and cognitive universe, a dynamic center of awareness, emotion, judgment, and action organized into a dis- tinctive whole and set contrastively both against other such wholes and against a social and natural background’’. Such a view of the person as a bounded, coherent, stable, autonomous, free entity is what Markus and Kitayama call the independent self (Markus and Kitayama, 1991) or Euro-American selfways (Markus and Kitayama, 1998). An independent view of self de- rives from a belief in the wholeness and separateness of each individual’s configuration of internal attributes. This is the pro- totypical Western characterization of the self, which locates cru- cial self-representations within the individual.

In such a culture of individualism (Hofstede, 1980; Kim et al., 1994; Triandis, 1994), social customs, institutions and the media all conspire to foster the agentic way of being, emphasizing free will and individual reason (Markus and Kitayama, 1998). In particular, American culture has been depicted as a ‘‘rugged’’ individualism (Hsu, 1971), for it advocates relentless pursuit of individual interests and generously rewards personal successes. Furthermore, the dominant Christian religion in the West asserts that every man is created equal, thus defending personal rights is the most important moral value in the Western culture (Hwang,in press).Embedded in such a historical and cultural milieu, Euro- American style SWB has two distinct characteristics: personal accountability and explicit pursuit. In the West, with an infra- structure of democracy and social equality, a constitution that upholds individual rights, and social customs that encourage personal striving and reward achievement, the opportunities and freedom to pursuit happiness are abundant. Moreover, happiness is a dominant concern for most Americans – indeed the American Declaration of Independence proclaims that the pursuit of hap-

piness is an inalienable right of every individual. Happiness is not only the best reward for personal striving and hard work, as the

‘‘American dream’’ presents, it is also given many positive asso- ciations. For example, Americans believe that happy people are more likely to go to Heaven after death (King and Napa, 1998). Happiness is also closely related to health and life satisfaction (Lu, 1995). The active and explicit pursuit of happiness is one of the best ways of living out an independent personhood, which masters and controls the external environment, identifies and realizes potentials, creates and achieves goals. Such a Euro- American style of SWB can thus usefully be described as indi- vidually oriented SWB.

ASIAN SOCIALLY ORIENTED SWB

Though an independent model of self may seem a natural one for most Westerners, it is by no means the only viable one. Even Geertz (1975) conceded that the Western view of personhood looks rather peculiar to people of other cultures. The Asian view of the self, in sharp contrast to the Western view, is of a con- nected, fluid, flexible, committed being who is bound to others. This is what Markus and Kitayama call the interdependent self (Markus and Kitayama, 1991), or Asian selfways (Markus and Kitayama, 1998). An interdependent view of self derives from a belief in the individual’s connectedness and interdependence to others. This is the prototypical Eastern characterization of the self, which locates crucial self-representations not within unique individual attributes, but within his or her social relationships.

Another way of characterizing a critical element of Asian societies is in terms of Collectivism (Hofstede, 1980; Kim et al.,

1994; Triandis, 1994). Social customs, institutions and the media all conspire to foster the relational way of being, emphasizing roles, statuses and in-group membership (Markus and Kitayama,

1998). In particular, the Chinese culture has been depicted as a family-style collectivism and the Chinese people as fundamentally social oriented (Yang, 1995). Thus, many Asian cultures advocate priority of collective welfare and reward self-control, diligent role performance, and rigorous self-cultivation.

Within this particular historical and cultural milieu, Asian-style SWB has a distinct characteristic: role obligation. There has been clear evidence showing that the prevalent use of self maintenance strategies (e.g. self-enhancement) among Westerners is not to be found among Asians. In contrast, the Japanese (for instance) frequently exhibit a tendency of self-criticism and self-effacement (Heine et al., 1999; Kitayama and Markus, 2000). It is obvious that the need for positive regard in the Western sense of personal ability and achievement is not the most important concern of the Asian self. Instead, the pursuit of socially desirable and culturally mandated achievement is the most characteristic mode of the participating socially oriented self. For example, in Chinese societies socially oriented achievement needs are far more prom- inent than individually oriented ones: there is a pursuit of exter- nally defined goals and a striving for socially prescribed distinction (Yu and Yang, 1994). Consequently, in the Asian so- cially oriented conceptions of SWB, the integration of an indi- vidual’s inner attributes, the gratification of personal needs and desires, the amplification of personal achievement, the creation and protection of individual uniqueness are not important con- cerns: instead, the fulfillment of role obligations in interdependent social relationships, the creation and maintenance of interper- sonal harmony, the striving to promote the welfare and prosperity of the collective (e.g. family) are the core issues. Such a view of SWB is consonant with a Confucian obligation-based moral dis- course, in contrast to a Western right-based one (Hwang, in press). It is a realization of the Confucian’s highest aspired state

of achievement in life: self-cultivation, family harmony, state prosperity, and peace in the world, each of a higher level (Bauer,

1976; Chiang, 1996).

Accordingly, empirical evidence has confirmed that both self- esteem and self-consistency are less powerful predictors of SWB for members of Eastern collectivist cultures (Diener and Diener,

1995; Suh, 2000). Kwan et al. (1997) conducted a bi-cultural study (USA vs. Hong Kong) examining possible mediators between culture and SWB. Results indicated that while self-esteem was a strong predictor for Americans, both self-esteem and relationship harmony were equally important for the SWB of the Chinese. Lu et al. (2001a) conducted a direct comparison of the East against the West with equivalent samples, and unraveled culture-depen- dent as well as culture-general effects of values on happiness. Values such as ‘‘social integration’’ and ‘‘human-heartedness’’ led to happiness for the Chinese but not for the British, whereas work-related values were equally important to happiness in both cultures.

In fact, there are a number of ways to achieve happiness and these are developed in consonance with a culturally constituted world. For Euro-Americans, individually oriented SWB is achieved through the nurturance and participation of an inde- pendent self along with its active striving to master the environ- ment (e.g. primary control); For Asians, socially oriented SWB is achieved through the nurturance and participation of an inter- dependent self along with its constant striving to submerge within the environment and accomplish role obligations (e.g. secondary control and harmony) (Lu et al., 2001b, 2002). Such socially oriented SWB with a clear emphasis on role obligations is actually a striving for the happiness of society (Bauer, 1976).

Another defining characteristic of Asian socially oriented conceptions of SWB is a view of dialectical balance. The Japanese culture exhibits a ‘‘habit of hesitation’’ towards happiness (Mi- nami, 1971, p. 34). This characteristic oriental reservation may be traced back to the ancient Yin–Yang philosophy which takes a cosmological view that everything from the cosmos to human life is a never-ending, cyclic process of change, between good and bad, happiness and misery, well-being and ill-being. To exemplify in the case of happiness/unhappiness: ‘‘Happiness is dependent on unhappiness, while unhappiness is hidden in happiness’’ (Lu,

1998). Such a dialectical view of SWB may imply some ambivalence towards happiness, but may also foster a somewhat calmer and more solemn attitude. Empirical evidence has shown that Chinese students attached lower importance to happiness than American and Australian students (Diener et al., 1995; Feather, 1986). Compared to Americans, Chinese students worried less often whether they were happy or satisfied with life (Diener et al., 1995).

Furthermore, the level of ideal life satisfaction was lower for Koreans than Americans, and Koreans attached less importance to positive affect such as happiness (Diener et al., 1996).

This evidence supports our assertion that individualist and collectivist cultures produce different meanings for SWB, and through active participation of the individual, subjective concep- tions of happiness are systematically varied across cultural systems through the world. Striving for personal happiness and the rec- ognition of such striving are the defining features of individually oriented conceptions of SWB, whereas role obligations and dia- lectical reservation are defining features of socially oriented con- ceptions. The former is more prototypical of Euro-American culture, whereas the latter is more prototypical of Asian culture.

THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE: THE CHINESE CONCEPTIONS OF HAPPINESS

The number of studies of SWB from a cultural psychological perspective is still small, and we very much need hard data derived from testing theoretical propositions. In addition, the literature on SWB has so far been largely based on surveys and self-report measures. The cultural perspective however, suggests that cultural meanings are often tacit, normative, taken-for-granted, dense descriptions of the lived world of people, and that people’s spontaneous accounts may be more effective ways to unravel the cultural construction of SWB.

In the rest of this article, we will present data and analyses from American students’ spontaneous accounts of happiness. These dense descriptions of the lived world of the American people will be compared to those of the Chinese people, and related to the above theoretical analysis. Such interplay of theory and empirical data will, we hope, be of benefit to research on SWB in general, as well as to the application of a cultural psychological approach to the field.

As space does not allow detailed elaboration of our previous study regarding Chinese conceptions of SWB (Lu, 2001), only a sketch of the empirical findings is presented below for the purpose of later comparisons with those of the American students. One hundred and forty-two undergraduate Chinese students wrote free- format essays in response to a simple question, ‘‘What is happi- ness?’’ Using thematic analysis, four main themes were found:

(1) Happiness can be defined in terms of (a) a mental state of satisfaction and contentment; (b) positive feelings/emotions; (c) a harmonious homeostasis; (d) achievement and hope; and (e) freedom from ill-being.

(2) Happiness is a harmonious state of existence, under the following conditions: (a) the individual is satisfied or content; (b) the individual is the agent of his own happiness; (c) spiritual enrichment is emphasized more than material satisfaction; and (d) the individual maintains a positive outlook for the future.

(3) The relationship between happiness and unhappiness is dialectical. These two distinct entities are locked in a never-ending relationship of interdependence: each depends on the other for contrast and meaning. Moreover this relationship between the two opposites is also dynamic and constantly changing.

(4) Happiness can be achieved, provided that one has the fol- lowing abilities: (a) the wisdom of discovery; (b) the wisdom of contentment and gratitude; (c) the wisdom of giving; and (d) the wisdom of self-cultivation.

THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE: AMERICAN CONCEPTIONS OF HAPPINESS

Participants:

A total of 202 undergraduate students participated in the study. To minimize the impact of cultural fusion, only data on the 97 white Caucasian Americans aged 17–25, with both parents being American citizens were reported below.

Procedure:

To reflect the exploratory nature of the present study, a qualita- tive approach was adopted. Participants wrote free-format essays in response to a simple question, ‘‘What is happiness?’’ There was no restriction on perspectives, topics, materials, formats, length, and time of completion. However, it was stressed that participants should freely and fully express their views and thoughts about happiness. Data were collected in early 2002.

All the essays were then coded using thematic analysis. The first author independently analyzed all the transcripts and developed amaster scheme to organize the data under major themes and sub- themes. This is actually a dynamic process moving to and fro between the data and the scheme. The final version was then inde- pendently verified by the second author and some of the participants. Minor modifications were made at this final stage of analysis. These procedures helped to achieve inter-subjectivity between researchers of different cultural background (East vs. West), and between researchers and participants. We thus believe that a reasonable de- gree of ‘‘trustworthiness’’ has been ensured for the study.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results are presented below and are grouped into subheadings that reflect the main themes to arise from the essays. As the purpose of this study was to explore the Americans’ conceptions of happiness, no content analyses or frequency counts were con- ducted. Instead, qualitative summary methods were employed to present the results. As the amount of materials was considerable, only sample quotes from respondents are given to illustrate each point made below, but these examples typify characteristic positions in the sample.

Many scholars think that happiness is too elusive and abstract to be pinned down, and defining it is only possible at the opera- tional level. Some participants expressed similar concerns and hesitation when confronted with a direct, almost sharp inquiry such as ‘‘what is happiness?’’ Such a failure to commit to a clear and definite definition of happiness appeared to be due to three fundamental aspects of the happiness experience. First, happiness is abstract, hence its meaning is difficult to capture in language. As one subject remarked: ‘‘Happiness is something which can’t be described in words, rather it must only be felt’’. Second, happiness is subjective; hence there could be considerable individual differ- ences in definitions: ‘‘happiness is as individual as your finger- print’’, as one respondent put it. Third, happiness has different levels, and hence definitions may vary as a function of age and life circumstances where different levels are desirable. In our previous study, Chinese students expressed similar concerns on the first two points, but the last one was not mentioned.

However, the majority of participants took up the challenge to define happiness. Consonant with the observation that happiness is subjective, so is its definition. Nonetheless, all the diverse def- initions that were offered by the various participants in the study could be seen, on closer inspection, to relate to a limited number – seven – of underlying themes, although no single definition dealt with all. These themes are explored below.

Happiness as a Mental State of Satisfaction and Contentment Many participants referred to happiness as a profound mental state of satisfaction and contentment. This mental state of hap- piness can be evoked from a positive evaluation of one’s current state of life. As one participant stated: ‘‘Happiness is feeling content about your current situation in life and being able to smile about it – ‘Life is good’’’. Others elaborated this view: ‘‘Happiness to me is feeling that life couldn’t get any

better at that moment. You’re satisfied at every possible aspect of life’’. Some introduced the future dimension and said, for example, that: ‘‘Happiness is a feeling of contentment with life in the present and a sense of optimism for the future’’.

Whether specific or general, these views of happiness are quite similar to those expressed by the Chinese students. However, a very different psychological perspective of accepting and wel- coming one’s fate with gratitude and heart-felt thankfulness ex- pressed by many of the Chinese students was completely absent here. The ability to be content seems to produce a kind of hap- piness more profound and long lasting for the Chinese, reflecting Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist influences.

Happiness as Positive Feelings/Emotions

Satisfaction/contentment often goes hand-in-hand with various positive feelings and emotions in experiences of happiness. Some participants defined happiness in terms of simple joy and hedo- nistic pleasures, such as joy, elation, and enjoyment, reflected in statements like: ‘‘Happiness can come at many different times but when I am happy it is like a natural high … laughing is my happiness’’, and ‘‘Happiness is smiling and laughing, living for the moment’’. However, some chose to represent happiness in deeper emotions, such as security, and feelings of love: ‘‘Happiness is

being at peace with yourself and letting this inner peace radiate out towards others positively’’. For some individuals, this serene state of happiness is evoked by natural beauty such as lakes, mountains, or even the smell of perfume.

All these representations of happiness were also mentioned by the Chinese students. However, a very different psychological state of ‘‘being ordinary’’ was on the list of the Chinese ‘‘happy emotions’’ but not on the American one. Moreover, for Chinese, intense hedonic emotions are not stressed, although they are recognized as part of the happiness experience. Instead, ‘‘being ordinary’’ as a means of self-control and maintaining group harmony is a life practice of the Confucian ideal of self-cultivation and prioritizing group welfare.

Happiness as Achievement and Control

Some participants stressed the sense of achievement and accom- plishment as a defining feature of happiness, which often led to satisfaction and contentment. This state of happiness is usually brought about through the attainment of goals and rewards for efforts. ‘‘Happiness is the feeling of succeeding in the things I do and learning from it when I don’t’’. Or ‘‘Happiness is a reward for all the hard work you employ’’. One student viewed happiness as simply ‘‘victory’’. This view of happiness also implies a positive outlook: ‘‘Happiness to me is feeling like everything will turn out to be right in the end’’. Or: ‘‘It doesn’t mean that everything at that moment is perfect but you are able to overlook the bad and find good in things. Happiness is being able to laugh at your bad day’’.

The above views were also expressed by the Chinese students. For them, a view of happiness as achievement is unusually uplifting, active, and initiating. However, hope and keeping faith is even more important than any actual accomplishment. Con- fucianism, Taoism and Buddhism all preach a philosophy of submission to, rather than conquering the environment. Hope and faith thus become important strategies of maintaining per- sonal control, albeit psychological, in the face of

hardship and uncertainty. The subdued tone and texture of the Chinese ‘‘hope and faith’’ is subtly different from the more actively uplifting spirit of American optimism.

Happiness as Self-autonomy

Many of our participants stressed personal responsibility in their happiness conceptions. Three aspects of the self-autonomy were mentioned. First, the individual is dynamic, and should strive to create a meaningful life for himself (self-agency). For instance: ‘‘I feel happiness is what you make of things. Happiness is all up to an individual’’. Furthermore, happiness is not just a personal state, it can affect others too: ‘‘Happiness is occasionally stepping outside yourself to bring happiness and love to other people’’.

‘‘Making others happy’’ seems an interesting extension of the agentic self.

Second, the exercise of self-autonomy must be based on a po- sitive self-evaluation. ‘‘Happiness to me is something that makes

you feel great about yourself ’’. Or, more simply: ‘‘Happiness is self-esteem’’.

Third, self-autonomy is complete only with full freedom to be oneself. ‘‘To me happiness is doing and being who I want to be without being held back by the restrictions of society’’. And:

‘‘Happiness is doing what you love and being who you are’’. One respondent expressed strong envy for the ‘‘truly happy few …. who live their life according to their own standards and rules and don’t give a damn about what anyone thinks about them. Those who are happy are truly blessed’’.

Although the Chinese students expressed the view that the individual is the agent of his or her own happiness, there are some fundamental differences in the view of self-autonomy between the two cultural groups. For the Americans, self-autonomy is more than controlling one’s own destiny; it often implies influencing one’s social surroundings as well, including other people and events in life. For them, self-autonomy also aspires to a complete personal freedom to realize one’s potential, fulfill one’s desires, and become the true authentic self. In sharp contrast, for the Chinese, personal striving must be governed by moral principles, and a meaningful life is a virtuous life. Morality is held as a defining feature of zuo ren (becoming a man) in Confucian philosophy. There is no absolute freedom in the Western sense, only culturally mandated duties. Further, for the Chinese, while the individual is accorded autonomy, s/he is also expected to accept whatever fate may bring. To summarize, the Chinese notion of human agency is pre-determined by fate, which is fundamentally different from the position advocated in the West. Chinese ways of executing agency focus on accepting and coming to terms with the consequences, which are also different from Western ways. As the Chinese say:

‘‘When man has done his work, the rest is up to the Heaven’’.

Happiness as Freedom from Ill-being

The four conceptual approaches to happiness described so far all adopt a perspective of possessing or achieving something, be it a fulfillment, a feeling/emotion, an accomplishment or self-mastery. However, happiness can also be defined from the opposite per- spective of not having something bad, unpleasant, undesirable or unsettling happen. Specifically, the ills may be negative emotions, such as sadness, regret or pain. For instance: ‘‘Happiness is not having any regrets about the past’’. Or: ‘‘Happiness is the lack of unhappiness. Happiness is when you’re not feeling sad, depressed, angry or lonely. It is the absence of all negative feelings’’.

This ‘‘negative’’ view of happiness was present among the Chinese students too. Their conception of happiness can actually alternate between two opposing perspectives yet manage to con- vey a rather coherent and meaningful view. It seems that ‘‘hav- ing’’ and ‘‘not having’’ may be equally important in people’s thoughts about happiness, in both the East and West.

Happiness as Relating to People

Perhaps a little surprisingly, many of our American students mentioned their social relationships while contemplating defini- tions of happiness. The most significant relationships are those with family and friends. As one respondent put it: ‘‘True happiness I feel is to love and be loved. To have friends and family who love you and whom you love in return is the best feeling in the world. Happiness can come from any situation in which you are with these people’’. Many others echoed this view of ‘‘to love and be loved ’’ and would extend this particular perspective to include romantic love.

What then are the defining features of such important rela- tionships? Our participants mentioned various elements of social support, such as comfort, respect and companionship. Happiness is ‘‘having people around who comfort, challenge, love you’’;

‘‘Happiness, for me, is feeling loved and respected and always having people there for you’’. In addition, being oneself within a relationship is vital for the quality of love: ‘‘Happiness is being surrounded by people I can be myself with, people I relate to’’.

For the Chinese, social relationships are perhaps the most prominent element in their conception of happiness, as well as sources of happiness (Lu and Shih, 1997). To be loved, cared about, especially in one’s relationships with family members, friends, and lover/spouse are frequently mentioned by Chinese students. Interpersonal goals are most important to subjective well-being, underlined by a desire for solidarity and loyalty so deeply woven in the cultural tradition (Lu, 1998). However, as conceptualized in the Confucian ‘‘wu lun’’ (five cardinal rela- tionships), the Chinese person’s social world extends well beyond the immediate family and a small circle of close friends to much wider collectives. There are also one’s relation with the emperor (supervisors being his modern proxy, and covering all work relations), with father, with spouse, with brother (these three covering the entire family or clan), and with friends (including neighbors and community relations). Harmony in all these rela- tionship realms must be achieved to be sure of one’s happiness.

In addition to this different focus on the scope of the social network, the Americans and Chinese are also different in their expectations of the relationships themselves. For the Americans, a good social relationship is one in which each party retains her or his independence while negotiating an accommodation to the other; for the Chinese, a good social relationship is one in which two persons merge with each other to achieve interdependence (Kitayama and Markus, 2000). Therefore, the focal

point for the American relationships is the constituting parties whereas that for the Chinese is the relationship itself. It is thus understandable that

‘‘being oneself within a relationship’’ is vital for the quality of a loving relationship contributing to SWB for our American par- ticipants, whereas self-restrain and consideration for the other’s welfare are vital for achieving a harmonious Chinese relationship.

Happiness as the Ultimate Value in Life

Many of our American participants held up happiness to be the highest possible value in life. For some, happiness is the supreme goal in life. ‘‘Happiness is absolutely great and one of the most important states of being a person or a living thing could ever pursue. The pursuit of happiness is one of my supreme goals in life’’. Or: ‘‘Happiness is what makes life have meaning…a motive to live and make goals for yourself ’’. One respondent put it very simply and strongly: ‘‘Happiness is life!’’

Such strong statements of the value of happiness and its pursuit were totally absent from the Chinese students’ writings. Further, these heavily emotionally charged positive evaluations of happi- ness were all made in absolute terms, and assumed implicitly to apply to the whole human race. Nonetheless, such statements are testimony to the Western culturally mandated mission for hap- piness and its internalization and integration into the individual’s lived world, as we posited in our theoretical approach.

OVERALL REFLECTIONS: THE AMERICAN VS. THE CHINESE CONCEPTIONS OF HAPPINESS

Throughout the above presentation of empirical evidence, direct comparisons were made between the American and Chinese conceptions of happiness on each theme. We can see both simi- larities and differences, especially subtle distinctions in terms of both the substances of, and approaches to, SWB, as mandated by cultural traditions in the East and the West.

Several more general points should be noted. First, For the Chinese, happiness was prominently conceptualized as a harmo- nious homeostasis within the individual as well as between the individual and his surroundings.

However, words such as ‘‘har- mony’’, ‘‘balance’’ and ‘‘fit’’ were nowhere to be found in the Americans’ accounts. While the American accounts were emo- tionally charged, upbeat, and unmistakably positive, the Chinese ones were solemn, reserved, and balanced. The Chinese concept of harmonious homeostasis seems to capture the core implication of happiness being a dynamic process of achieving and maintaining a good fit from within to outward. One Chinese student’s view was rather representative: ‘‘Happiness is the inner well-being and contentment, as well as the feeling of harmony with the external world. It is also trust, safety and stability’’.

Although some Western psychologists have developed dynamic equilibrium models in SWB (Headey and Wearing, 1989), their key interest was to synthesize the top-down theories (e.g. per- sonality effects) and the bottom-up theories (e.g. life events influences) to explain individual differences. Hence, mechanisms of fluctuation or stability of SWB were their focal concern, rather than the nature of happiness. The Chinese concept of homeo- stasis, however, has a philosophical depth. According to the an- cient Yin–Yang theory, homeostasis is the ideal state for the entire universe, a state of harmony with the great natural principles (Hong, 1944). The Yin–Yang theory posits that the universe consists of two basic principles of nature, Yin–Yang; through the change of relationships between these two opposing forces, all creatures were born and are still constantly changing, hence keeping a state of homeostasis in nature, societies and human beings. Happiness is but one particular domain responsive to the influences of Yin–Yang. The above Chinese view of happiness corresponds nicely to this Yin–Yang philosophy, stressing a state of homeostasis in the human mind and body, in the individual and his social, spiritual and natural environment. This holistic view of happiness thus surpasses the Western view of equilibrium as a process mechanism. Harmony between Heaven, Earth and People is also the ultimate happiness aspired by Taoism. In short, conceptualizing happiness as a harmonious homeostasis seems a distinctly Chinese view, deeply embedded in the cultural milieu, and sharply contrasting with a Western view of linearly pursuing positivity to reach happiness.

Secondly, perhaps related to the first point, the Chinese con- ception of happiness clearly emphasized spiritual enrichment over hedonistic satisfaction, whereas the spiritual element of happiness was only mentioned by two American students in the context of religion. While the Americans generally emphasized concrete achievement, self-autonomy, and positive evaluations of the self, the Chinese generally emphasized mind work, self-cultivation, and positive evaluations of the self by others. The Chinese emphasis on spiritual enrichment underlines the view that hap- piness is not a mere reflection of the objective world. It is of course not likely that happiness can develop in a material vacuum for most ordinary people; but striking demonstrations of mind power as a passport to eternal happiness are prevalent in both Buddhism and Taoism. Confucian philosophy too stresses mind work to suppress selfish desires and irrational demands in order to be virtuous and serve the collective. All these Chinese traditional teachings place great emphasis on spiritual enrichment, and play down, even deny, the role of material gratification, physical comfort, and hedonic pleasures in the experience of happiness.

One Chinese student expressed this solemn view of happiness:

‘‘Only when the spirit is rich, the mind is peaceful and steady, happiness is then possible. Happiness is an inner feeling, not re- sides in the external material world’’. Although this conceptuali- zation of happiness as an individual mental state and spiritually focused is not limited to the Chinese cultural tradition, it has not been stressed in the West in recent times. In the West, rather, the focus has been more on a conception of happiness in terms of striving for material gratification and personal achievement.

Third, the Chinese conceptions of happiness clearly reflect a dialectical view, whereas the relationship between happiness and unhappiness was only lightly touched on by a very few of the American students.

For the Chinese, happiness and unhappiness are ever-present as the background to each other, whereas for the Americans, their relationship only comes to notice when one is currently unhappy. As briefly discussed earlier, the Yin–Yang philosophy takes a clear dialectical view of the happiness– unhappiness relationship. The cosmological view that everything from the cosmos to human life is a never-ending, cyclic process of change, between good and bad, happiness and misery, well-being and ill-being, is best expressed in a Chinese proverb: ‘‘Happiness is dependent on unhappiness, while unhappiness is hidden in happiness’’ (Lu, 1998). It seems that the dialectical view of hap- piness is a distinctive feature of Eastern conceptions of SWB,

as our research on Chinese culture shows, and as can be seen else- where – for example, in the Japanese ‘‘habit of hesitation’’ to- wards happiness.

Overall, our empirical evidence pertaining to both the Chinese and American conceptions of happiness supports our theoretical stance that culture molds meaning and concepts of psychological significance such as SWB. Both similarities and differences we observed in the data provide testimony to the cultural psycho- logical claim of ‘‘one mind, many mentalities’’ (Shweder et al.,1998, p. 87). In the current case of SWB, the empirical evidence generally supports our cultural theory which posits distinct characteristics of the conception of happiness prevalent in Asian and Euro-American cultures. For the Asians, socially oriented SWB emphasizes role obligations and dialectical balance; for the Euro-Americans, individually oriented SWB emphasizes personal accountability and explicit pursuit. Corroborating evidence has been found concerning the mechanisms of achieving happiness for both Easterners and Westerners (Lu et al., 2001b, 2002). It seems, then, that a cultural psychological approach towards the study of

SWB promises new horizons and new depth. Constructing a more culturally balanced measurement for the conception of SWB is the next important step forward, and more concerted and fruitful research efforts can then follow.

Happiness two ways to achieve--when East meet west

The independent/interdependent self-construals were proposed to be the culture-general determinants of happiness, acting through the mediating variables of control belief/harmony belief, and further through subjective experiences in social interactions. Data collected from 550 Taiwanese and 196 British community residents supported the above two ways of achieving happiness. The value of adding interdependent self- construal and harmony belief to the study of subjective well-being to reflect an alternative collectivistic cultural perspective was highlighted.In addition, the seemingly contrasting views of self and beliefs about social interaction were found to coexist among Taiwanese. This evidence offered valuable support for the coexistence modernity model.

1. Introduction

Happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) as a positive inner experience, as 'the highest good' and 'the ultimate motivator' for all human behaviors has attracted ever increasing attention from psychologists over the past two decades (see Argyle, 1987; Diener, 1984; Veenhoven, 1993 for reviews). The empirical definition of happiness refers to a predominance of positive over negative affect, and satisfaction with life as a whole (Argyle, Martin & Crossland, 1989; Diener, 1984), thus encompassing both affective and cognitive aspects.However, cross-cultural evidence on this universally important construct is slim. Studies ofhappiness from alternative cultural vantage points are even scarcer. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore happiness from the cross-cultural perspective with a culture-sensitive approach.

1.1. Predictors for happiness: cross cultural evidence

Culture has been proposed to be a major force in constructing the conception of happiness (Lu

& Shih, 1997), and consequently constricting its subjective experiences (Chiasson, Dube & Blon- din, 1996; Lu, Gilmour & Kao, in press). Most existing comparative studies demonstrated quite substantial national differences in happiness, especially across the East (Asian)-West (European/ North American) divide. Diener and his associates asserted that individualism is the only reliable predictor of happiness after controlling for statistical errors. They also found that self-esteem was a more powerful predictor of life satisfaction in individualist cultures than in collectivist cultures (Diener & Diener, 1995). However, using a nation-level measure of Individualism, the above researchers may have committed an 'ecological fallacy' (Kim, Triandis, Kegitcibasi, Choi & Yoon, 1994). An individual-level measure of culture may be more appropriate and fruitful for psychological inquiries.Using such an approach, Lu et al., in press conducted a direct comparison of the East againstthe West with equivalent samples, and unravelled culture-dependent as well as culture-general effects of values on happiness. Values such as 'social integration' and 'human-heartedness' led to happiness for the Chinese but not for the British, whereas work-related values were equally important to happiness in both cultures. It is possible, therefore, that there are powerful variables other than individualism and self-esteem exerting influence on happiness in collectivist culture systems.

1.2. Contrasting cultures, self-construal and beliefs about interaction

Similarly, from a cross-cultural perspective, Markus and Kitayama (1991, 1994) have chal- lenged the universal importance of the self-esteem construct in the West (e.g. Rosenberg, 1965). Their central thesis is that people of different cultures can hold remarkably different construals of the self, of others, and of the relation between the self and others in society. They further conceptualize the variations on what individuals believe about the self-others relation into two contrasting self- construals: independent and interdependent views of self.An independent view of self derives from a belief in the wholeness and separateness of each individual's configuration of internal attributes. This construal places emphases on 'self-actuali- zation', 'realizing oneself', 'expressing one's unique configuration of needs, rights and capacities', and 'developing one's distinct potential'. This is the prototypical Western characterization of the self, which locates crucial self-representations within the individual.In contrast, an interdependent view of self derives from a belief in the individual's connected- ness and interdependence to others. This construal places emphases on 'fitting in', 'belonging to','fulfilling and creating obligations' and 'becoming part of various of social units'. This is the

prototypical Eastern characterization of the self, which locates crucial self-representations not within the unique individual attributes, but within his/her social relationships.Interpersonal beliefs about interaction can be regarded as a consequence of self-systems. Markusand Kitayama (1991) described five tasks for people with an independent self-construal. These are: being unique, expressing self, realizing internal attributes, promoting one's own goal, and being direct in social interactions. To fulfill these tasks, the individual is expected to actively exercise his/her agency, to seek control over the external environment, to change or influence other people, things and objects in adaptation encounters to further one's goal. The preoccupation with this kind of active control is quite evident in the sizable and undiminishing attention accorded to the topic of control in the West (see Furnham & Steele, 1993). Furthermore, sense of control has been repeatedly linked to a wide variety of indices of adaptation (see Steptoe & Appels, 1989).There are five tasks for people with an interdependent self-construal too (Markus & Kitayama,1991). These are: belonging and fitting in, occupying one's proper place, engaging in appropriate action, promoting others' goal, and being indirect in social interactions. To fulfill these tasks, the individual is expected to build and maintain harmony in interpersonal relationships. Instead of controlling the environment, many Eastern cultures advocate adapting to the environment. Instead of asserting one's own needs and rigorously pursuing one's own goals, many Eastern cultures value interpersonal harmony and encourage ''sacrificing the Small self to accomplish the Great self''. In Chinese culture, a state of homeostasis between the self and others, groups, society and Nature is viewed as the ultimate achievement in human adaptation (Chiang, 1996).

Against such a cultural backdrop, the effect of relationship harmony in collectivist culturesmay be just as important as the effect of control (Myers & Diener, 1995) in individualist cultures. Relationship harmony is a concept borrowed from Confucian philosophy, which is arguably the most significant force shaping the mentality of the Chinese people. Harmony refers to the balance achieved in relationships. The major focus of this concept is on the relationship, rather than on the satisfaction of its constituent individuals or support derived by an individual from that relation- ship (Ho, 1993). Previous studies have demonstrated that aspects of relationships do contribute to happiness (Argyle, 1987; Diener & Diener, 1995; Lu, Shih, Lin & Ju, 1997). The current study took a step further to be more culturally sensitive in tapping interpersonal aspects of the rela- tionship, namely the harmony belief.

1.3. Theoretical framework for the study

In the search for possible predictors of happiness, culture is proposed to exert a critical influence in mapping out two ways of achieving well-being. At first, culture selects, activates, elaborates, maintains and strengthens one distinct self system over another. Independent/interdependent self- construals as self-schemas then shape and direct the individual's behaviors to reflect the core underlying cultural concerns. In the interpersonal realm, people with independent self-construal tend to believe in active control, whereas people with interdependent self-construal tend to emphasize more on relationship harmony. These beliefs about social interaction should then guide people's everyday practices of social behaviors and the resultant feelings about these interactions will contribute to their overall happiness.In sum, two pan-cultural ways of achieving happiness were proposed and depicted in Fig. 1. Inaddition, we further hypothesized that interdependent self-construal and harmony belief would exert a relatively greater impact on happiness for collectivist Taiwanese (Chinese) respondents than for individualistic British.

Fig. 1. Two ways to achieve happiness: a theoretical framework for the study.

2. Method

2.1. Participants

2.1.1. TaiwanA variety of data collection methods were adopted to survey community residents with struc- tured questionnaires. A total of 574 questionnaires were sent out, and 550 returned, yielding an overall response rate of 95%. A detailed breakdown of sample composition in terms of data collection methods is given below.

1. Mailing questionnaires to community adults who took part in various evening classes offered by the local government (N=78).2. Group administering questionnaires to students of one senior high school (N=152), one vocational school (N=98), and one university (N=46).3. Asking senior high school and vocational school students to take questionnaires back home for their mothers or fathers to fill in (N=176).

Interdependent self-construal

Independent self-construal

Harmony belief

Control belief

Feelings of social interaction Happiness

Initial analysis using ANOVA procedure found no systematic and meaningful differences on major research variables between subsamples recruited through different methods. Consequently, these subsamples were pooled in further analyses.

2.1.2. UKA broad cross-section of the community adults was targeted. A total of 250 questionnaires were sent out for participants to fill out at their own leisure, and 196 were completed and returned, yielding a response rate of 78.4%.

2.2. Instruments

2.2.1. Self-construalsThe 24-item 'Independent and Interdependent Self-construals Scale' (Singelis, 1994) was used. Respondents rated each statement on a 7-point Likert Scale. Two scores were then computedrepresenting independent self-construal and interdependent self-construal respectively. High scores indicated high endorsement of a particular view of self.

2.2.2. Control beliefTo reflect the current focus on social interactions, the 'Interpersonal Control' subscale from the'Sphere of Control Inventory' (Paulhus & Christie, 1981) was used. Respondents rated their agreement with the eight statements on 7-point Likert Scales. A total score was then computed. High scores indicated higher endorsement of beliefs in internal control in the interpersonal sphere.

2.2.3. Harmony beliefChinese idioms depicting interpersonal harmony were sampled from the 'Chinese Value Survey' (The Chinese Culture Connection, 1987) and the 'Traditional Values Scale' (Yang & Cheng,1989). Respondents rated their agreement with the 20 idioms on 7-point Likert Scales. Highscores indicated high endorsement of beliefs in the interpersonal harmony.

2.2.4. Social interactionThe 16-item newly constructed Social Interaction Inventory was aimed at assessing an indivi- dual's subjective experiences generated through his/her important social relationships. Borrowing a concept from Confucian philosophy, the five cardinal relations are the key significant relations in one's social world (Goodwin & Tang, 1996). These dyadic relations include the relations between emperor and minister, father and son, husband and wife, brother and brother, and friend and friend. In the present study, its modern proxy: relation between authority/supervisor and subordinate replaced relation between emperor and minister. Relations between father and son, and brother and brother were combined to cover relations with one's family members, excluding one's spouse. Relation between husband and wife was retained. Relation between friend and friend was again extended to include relation with one's work colleagues. Thus, respondents rated their subjective experiences using 5-point scales in the above four types of key social relations. For each type of relation, ratings were done on four major experiential dimensions: positive, negative, harmonious, and conflictual. Scores were computed for each dimension through aggre- gating ratings for all four types of relations. High scores indicated higher positive, lower negative, higher harmonious, and lower conflictual experiences. Aggregating the above four dimensional scores then created a social interaction index. A high index indicated greater 'good' experiences in one's significant social interactions.

2.2.5. HappinessThe 20-item brief version of the Chinese Happiness Inventory (CHI; Lu, 1996) was used. The response format for the CHI is the reverse of that used for the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), to best capture the positive skewed nature of the happiness construct (Diener, 1984). As such, the CHI taps subjective experiences pertaining to a preponderance of positive affect over negative affect as well as global life satisfaction across a variety of domains. A high total score indicated higher happiness.

All scales were translated from its original language and back-translated to create two equivalentversions for the Taiwanese and British respondents.

3. Results

3.1. Descriptive analysis

Demographic characteristics of the Taiwan and UKsamples are listed along side in Table 1 for comparisons. The two samples were comparable in terms of age and gender ratio. The UKsample was better educated with more years in formal education and higher proportions of respondents with college and above attainment. Although proportions of once-married people were compar- able in Taiwan and the UK, 30% more respondents were living in nuclear families in Taiwan. It is possible, however, that treating individuals in parent-child dyads as independent respondents may have inflated the frequency counts for the Taiwan sample on this variable. Finally, there were substantial differences in occupation across the two samples. There were more students among Taiwanese respondents and there were no housewives among British respondents.

Although the two samples were different in some respects, further statistical analyses ascertained that education and family types were not significantly related to the main research variables.

TABLE 1 Sample distribution in Taiwan and the UK

Taiwan (N=550) UK(N=196)

Age (in years) Mean 28.62 29.42 SD 13.10 11.23 Range 15-60 18-64Gender Female 62.5% 68.4% Male 37.5% 31/6% Educational level Primary 9.5% 0.0% Junior 8.9% 15.8% Senior 61.8% 35.7% College 19.1% 44.9% Postgraduate 0.2% 3.6% Did not answer 0.5% 0.0% Years of education Mean 11.0 13.5Marital status Single 47.7% 57.7% Married 41.7% 35.2% Others 2.0% 6.6% Did not answer 8.6% 0.5%

Family types Extended 8.0% 8.7% Stem 7.8% 2.0% Nuclear 68.1% 46.4% Others 6.7% 36.2% Did not answer 9.4% 6.6% Occupation Housewife 11.8% 0.0% Student 54.5% 30.6% Public service 9.7% 57.7% Trade & Commerce 7.8% 6.1% Manufacturing 13.8% 4.6% Did not answer 2.4 1.0%

Table 2 lists means, standard deviations and internal consistency Cronbach's as as well as direct Taiwan/UK comparisons for scores on all scales. Overall, considering the standard deviation to mean ratio, there were slightly more variations on nearly all variables in the UK samples. Scale reliability for self-construal, control belief, harmony belief and happiness was comparable between the two samples. However, a coefficients were generally lower for social interaction scales in the UK samples. In addition, all items in each scale were found to be positively correlated with the whole scale, further ensuring that the various scales were equivalent for cross-cultural comparisons. T-tests were then conducted which showed that Taiwanese subjects scored higher on virtually all scales than British subjects, except on positive and negative feelings about social interactions and happiness.

3.2. Zero-order correlation

Pearson correlation matrices for major research variables are presented separately for Taiwan and UKin Table 3. Results can be interpreted with reference to our research hypotheses depicted in Fig. 1. First, there were significant positive correlations between interdependent self-construal and harmony belief as well as independent self-construal and control belief in both samples. Furthermore, the former pair of relationship was stronger in Taiwan whereas the latter was stronger in UK. It is worth noticing that both pairs of the self-construals, and beliefs were positively correlated in Taiwan but not in the UK.Second, both beliefs correlated significantly with the overall as well as more specific experiences in social interactions (the non-significant relation between control belief and feelings of conflict in the UK sample was the only exception to this pattern). It is also noticeable that relations between

TABLE 2

Reliability of scales and comparisons of means in Taiwan and the UK a

Taiwan UK t

Mean SD a Mean SD a

Independent self58.60 7.88 0.52 56.57 9.29 0.73 2.90***

Interdependent self

63.28 8.02 0.62 52.21 9.31 0.67 15.36***

Control belief 39.38 7.40 0.70 37.52 7.59 0.73 2.96**Harmony belief 111.34 13.85 0.86 98.96 13.28 0.85 4.35***Social interaction 64.08 7.82 0.86 62.35 7.41 0.62 2.54*Positive 15.93 2.28 0.64 15.90 2.01 0.52 0.17Negative 15.15 2.81 0.70 15.41 2.49 0.68 1.12Harmonious 16.52 2.22 0.67 15.53 2.01 0.45 5.26***Conflictual 16.47 2.44 0.65 15.55 2.40 0.57 4.31***Happiness 28.18 8.91 0.90 28.70 9.08 0.91 0.69

a Note: *=P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001.

TABLE 3 Zero-order correlation matrix for all variables in Taiwan and the UK 2

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Taiwan1. Independent self 1.002. Interdependent self 0.28*** 1.003. Harmony belief 0.32*** 0.65*** 1.004. Control belief 0.29*** 0.18*** 0.23*** 1.005. Social interaction 0.17*** 0.27*** 0.34*** 0.37*** 1.006. Positive 0.28*** 0.27*** 0.34*** 0.37*** 0.81*** 1.007. Negative 0.03 0.20*** 0.20*** 0.26*** 0.79*** 0.44*** 1.008. Harmonious 0.29*** 0.28*** 0.38*** 0.31*** 0.82*** 0.78*** 0.42*** 1.009. Conflictual 0.02 0.12* 0.18*** 0.27*** 0.79*** 0.41*** 0.59*** 0.50*** 1.0010. Happiness 0.30*** 0.13** 0.14** 0.44*** 0.36*** 0.28*** 0.23*** 0.39*** 0.15** 1.00

UK1. Independent self 1.002. Interdependent self 0.05 1.003. Harmony belief 0.20** 0.40*** 1.004. Control belief 0.47*** 0.04 0.10 1.005. Social interaction 0.24** 0.33*** 0.28*** 0.24** 1.006. Positive 0.29*** 0.23** 0.28** 0.26*** 0.80*** 1.007. Negative 0.22*** 0.29*** 0.19* 0.20** 0.89*** 0.58*** 1.008. Harmonious 0.20** 0.26** 0.32*** 0.19** 0.81*** 0.75*** 0.53*** 1.009. Conflictual 0.14 0.31*** 0.22*** 0.15* 0.85*** 0.14** 0.81*** 0.51*** 1.0010. Happiness 0.17* 0.06 0.14 0.27*** 0.21* 0.27*** 0.12 0.27*** 0.06 1.00

a Note: *=P<0.05, **=P<0.01, ***=P<0.001.

the two beliefs and experiences of social interaction were generally stronger in Taiwan than in the

UK.Finally, overall experiences as well as positive and harmonious feelings significantly correlated with happiness. For Taiwanese, negative and conflictual feelings also significantly correlated with happiness, whereas these relations were non-significant for the British.

3.3. Predicting research constructs

In order to uncover significant predictors of various constructs in the present study, a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses were carried out. The order of entering potential pre- dictors into the equation was based on theoretical hypotheses and empirical interests. At step 1, demographic variables were entered, if they had significant zero-order correlation with the interested construct; at step 2, fundamental views of self were entered, as they were shaped by culture relatively early in the socialization processes; at step 3, beliefs about interaction were entered, as they were viewed as derived from one's particular self-system; and at step 4, specific experiences generated through actual social interactions were entered. However, due to variations in the lists of pre- dicators, the exact order and number of steps varied in different analyses reported below in Table 4.For both samples, interdependent and independent self-consturals could predict stronger harmony belief. Independent self-construal was the only predictor for control belief. Interdependent

TABLE 4 Predicting research constructs in Taiwan and the UK a

Dependent variables Taiwan UK

Predictor β R2 F Predictor R2 F

Harmony belief Age2 0.23** Cohort 0.14*

Interdependent self-construalb 0.58*** Interdependent self-construalb 0.35***Independent self-construal 0.14*** 0.46 104.49*** Independent self-construal 0.13** 0.23 7.21***

Control belief Independent self-construalb 0.26*** 0.12 16.99*** Independent self-construalb 0.49*** 0.24 27.19***

Positive feelings Interdependent self-construalb 0.12** Interdependent self-construalb 0.17*Independent self-construal 0.21*

Harmony belief b 0.21***Control belief 0.27*** 0.23 20.28*** 0.20 7.76***

Negative feelings Family typeb 0.22***

Interdependent self-construalb 0.12* Interdependent self-construalb 0.34*** Independent self-construal 0.11*Control belief b 0.24*** 0.11 9.67*** 0.23 6.65***

Harmonious feelings Independent self-construalb 0.13** Interdependent self-construalb 0.20*Independent self-construal 0.15*

Harmony belief b 0.29*** Harmony belief b 0.21**Control belief 0.20*** 0.22 19.31*** 0.24 7.92***

Conflictual feelings Sexb 0.12*

Independent self-construalb 0.15** Independent self-construalb 0.29***

Harmony belief b 0.15* Control belief 0.28*** 0.12 11.26*** 0.16 4.34***Happiness Age2 0.22*

Independent self-construalb 0.14**

Control belief b 0.33*** Control belief b 0.30***

Harmonious fellingsb 0.27*** Conflictual feelings 0.13* 0.30 22.25*** 0.25 5.38***

a Note: *=P<0.05, **=P<0.01 ***=P<0.001. 'Cohort': 1=adolescents (under 19 years old); 2=adults (over 19 years old). 'Gender': 1=female;2=male. 'Family type': 1=nuclear family; 2=non-nuclear family.

Thisb Indicates a new step in hierarchical regression.

self-construal could predict greater positive and fewer negative feelings in social interactions. Independent self-construal and harmony belief could predict greater harmonious feelings. Fur- thermore, interdependent self-construal could predict fewer conflictual feelings. As for happiness, control belief was the strongest predictor.In addition to these common predictors across cultures, there were specific predictors in eachculture. Overall, the proportions of variance explained in the constructs were modest, ranging from 11 to 46% in Taiwan, and 16 to 25% in the UK.

3.4. Pan-cultural analysis

Supplementing the above mono-cultural analyses, a pan-cultural analysis was conducted using data from both cultural groups to test a 'universal' model as hypothesized in Fig. 1. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used by applying the Maximum Likelihood technique provided in AMOS 3.06. A total of 11 paths and three covariations were estimated and the model is depicted in Fig. 2. Comparing Figs. 1 and 2, age was added because of its significant influences on harmony belief, control belief and happiness (not reported here). Three other paths were added too (Interdependent self-construal Control belief, control belief Happiness, Independent self- construal Happiness), because of their potential value in improving the model fit (see Tables 3 and 4). Results showed that all coefficients were significant at the level of P=0.05, and standard errors were small.Model evaluation is usually not a simple procedure, and no one descriptive index seems to besuperior to the others and impeccable in this regard (Bentler, 1990; Raykov, Tomer & Nessel- roade, 1991). Basically, evaluating a model is to strike a balance between simplicity vs complexity (reflected in the parsimony indexes), and good fit vs poor fit (reflected in the fit indexes). In the present case, our model did not reach statistical nonsignificance for these two samples, x2=40.59,

Fig. 2. A pan-cultural model of happiness.

df=7, P<0.001. However, with a large sample size (N=746), virtually all models will be rejected in SEM analyses when the power of the statistical test is very high (Raykov et al., 1991). Hence, indexes of fit become especially important. The present model showed an acceptable level of fit to the two samples, GFI=0.985, AGFI=0.940, RMR=3.776. In addition, the comparative fit index (CFI) is relatively robust across sample size compared to other fit indexes (Bentler, 1990), and a value at the upper 0.90's indicates an acceptable fit (CFI=0.96 in the present model). RMSEA is a measure of discrepancy per degree of freedom, with a value below 0.05 to 0.08 indicating a close fit (RMSEA=0.080 in the present model). Finally, a value of 2-5 for x2/df indicates an acceptable fit (x2/df=5.80 in the present model). Taken together the results of the present model showed an acceptable value of fit.

4. Discussion

4.1. Two ways of achieving happiness

From the perspective of cultural psychology, we proposed two ways of achieving happiness for people living in an individualistic society and in a collectivist society. Both ways start from a particular self-system, through its correspondent belief about social interactions, and further through subjective experiences generated in actual interactions to lead to happiness. This pan- cultural two-way happiness model was largely supported in the present study (see Fig. 2). For both Taiwanese and British subjects, interdependent self-construal was a very strong determinant of harmony belief, whereas independent self-construal was a strong determinant of control belief. Furthermore, for both groups, beliefs about social interaction did impact on experiences of daily interactions, although control belief had a somewhat stronger effect than harmony belief. Finally, experiences of social interactions did contribute to happiness, although control belief had a

strong direct effect on happiness too. Thus, it was shown that the two ways of achieving happiness were independent and pancultural across these two cultural groups. The two self-construals were co-determinants of happiness, acting through the mediating variables of belief systems and social interactions.However, although the above two ways of achieving happiness were generally similar in the two cultural groups, an interesting cultural difference should also be noticed. In mono-cultural analyses, independent self-construal was predictive of greater negative and conflictual feelings for the Taiwanese, whereas it was not related to negative feelings and predictive of fewer conflictual feelings for the British (see Table 4). These differing patterns may illustrate the cultural sanction of one's belief systems and the trade-off between asserting oneself and maintaining communion.First, culture can shape psychological processes. Although both Western and Eastern cultures recognize that independence from others and interdependence with others are essential human tendencies or needs, these needs are emphasized differently in the two cultural traditions. From a Western cultural perspective, the notion of the autonomous human agent in constant battle with the external collective to gain mastery and control is only 'natural'. Not surprisingly, Western psychology seems possessed with the concept of control and has established it as a robust pre- dictor of people's behavior, emotion, performance, and success and failure in many domains of life (see Skinner, 1995).

From an alternative Eastern cultural perspective, such a notion of personhood and the consequent emphases on active control appear somewhat contrived and unnatural. In Chinese culture, for example, the Confucian concept of Lun Li (social order) emphasizes interpersonal relationships, and more importantly, proper conducts to maintain a harmonious social network. The culture in its dominant ideology and philosophical texts, its patterns of social customs, norms and practices, and its societal institutions and social systems emphasizes and foregrounds interdependence with others, adopting and fitting in with the external collective. As such, in the Chinese society, people with well-developed interdependent self-construal and its consequent beliefs in harmony are expected to be well adjusted and happy. Indeed, the present study found that interdependent self- construal and harmony belief were indicative of better social adjustment, in terms of more rewarding experiences from daily interactions in key relationship domains. In a recent study,'social integration' (an indicator of collectivism) and 'human-heartedness' (an indicator of culturalcompassion) were found to promote happiness for Taiwanese but not for British (Lu et al., in press). In summary, this empirical evidence is among the first to support the theoretical reasoning that the ability to fit into one's significant social groups is a cultural imperative by those living in collective cultures (Markus & Kitayama, 1991)Second, the cultural sanction of separating from others or connecting with others as two basic human needs does not preclude the potential conflict between them. In a collectivist society where the mentality of 'harmony' is a highly praised virtue, and interpersonal frictions and conflicts are to be avoided at all costs, asserting oneself and striving for active control pose serious threats to the maintenance of a close-knit social network. People who think or behave in such a way may be regarded as immature and suffer from frustrating and punishing experiences in daily social interactions. On the other hand, separating from others and enhancing oneself are exactly what are expected from people in an individualistic culture, hence should induce no harmful effects, and if any, only positive rewards.

4.2. The coexistence of cultures

As discussed above, in a collectivist culture, the relation between independent self-construal and less than rewarding experiences in social interactions is understandable. However, the rela- tions between independent self-construal, control belief and happiness among Taiwanese are intriguing findings. These relations seem to suggest that although independent self-construal and control belief are not the dominant self and belief systems in a collectivist culture, they may nonetheless hold adjustment values for individuals in modern time.Markus and Kitayama (1991) pointed out that the two self-systems could coexist within an individual, theoretically. Empirically, the covariation between independent and interdependent self-construals was significant in pan-cultural analyses of SEM (see Fig. 2). This coexistence of contrasting self-systems was particularly pronounced among the Taiwanese. We found that independent and interdependent self-construals had a weak but significant relationship (r=0.28), so did control and harmony beliefs (r=0.23) among Taiwanese. Also, their scores for inter- dependent self-

construal were higher than those for independent self-construal. The trend was reversed among British. As such, Taiwanese subjects seem to share an interdependent view of self somewhat more strongly than an independent view of self, whereas British subjects do the reverse. The overall conclusion seems to be that for Taiwanese subjects, interdependent self-construal does not rule out the presence of independent self-construal, albeit they have different degrees of ela- boration and weight in one's entire organization of personhood.Evidence for the existence of contrasting values has also been reported from another Easternculture: India. Mishra (1994) found that Indians showed a disposition for both individualistic and collectivist values, and young, highly educated, and urban people tended to be less collectivist. Recall that our Taiwanese sample was young, well educated and urban-resident, so they may be the most likely section of the population to be influenced by Western culture. In the present study, we found that older age and older cohort were predicative of harmony belief. Taken together, this empirical evidence supports the coexistence model and is against the linear model of modernity (Berry, 1994; Sinha & Tripathi, 1994). In the face of the vast-scale cultural invasion from the West, and the rapid transition from an agricultural and autocratic society to an industrial and democratic society, Taiwanese people have not relinquished traditional Chinese ideology, philosophies, values and practices. Instead, they have made pragmatic use of the Western culture, learning, adopting and assimilating useful ideology, philosophies, values and practices to enhance adjustment in the modern world. In so doing, the neglected even suppressed independent self- construal and control belief may be nurtured, developed, elaborated and even emphasized in certain domains of life. The notion of an autonomous, initiating, striving, and achieving person- hood fits well with the efficiency-emphasizing, achievement-orienting and competition-based urban existence. An attitude favoring the coexistence of independent and interdependent self- construals as well as control and harmony beliefs for dealing with the apparent conflicts between strong traditionality and requisite modernity seems to be the most favorable outcome for people in Taiwan. This is what this study demonstrated.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Council, Taiwan, ROC, NSC88-2413-H-037-002.

Chapter 4.

Happiness Quotes Happiness

The Best Happiness Quotes

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.”

- Groucho Marx

“The same girl who laughs and talks a lot and seems very happy is also the girl who may cry herself to sleep...”

- Unknown

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“Happiness is:

1. Falling in love.

2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.

3. A hot shower.

4. No lines at the supermarket.

5. A special glance.

6. Getting mail.

7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.

8. Hearing your favourite song on the radio.

9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.

10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.

11. Chocolate milkshake ... (or vanilla ... or strawberry!)

12. A bubble bath.

13. Giggling.

14. A good conversation.

15. The beach

16. Finding a 20-pound note in your coat from last winter.

17. Laughing at yourself.

18. Eye contact with a hot member of the opposite sex.

19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.

20. Running through sprinklers.

21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.

22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful/good looking.

23. Laughing at an inside joke.

24. Friends.

25. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.

26. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.

27. Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner).

28. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.

29. Playing with a new puppy.

30. Having someone play with your hair.

31. Sweet dreams.

32. Hot chocolate.

33. Road trips with friends.

34. Swinging on swings.

35. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.

36. Making chocolate chip cookies (and eating them...!).

37. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.

38. Holding hands with someone you care about.

39. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.

40. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much-desired present from you.

41. Watching the sunrise.

42. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.

43. Knowing that somebody misses you.

44. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.

45. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think. “ - Unknown

“The best feeling in the world is realizing that you're perfectly happy without the thing you thought you needed.”

- marxie

“When I was in grade school, they told me to write down what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I wrote down happy. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, I told them they didn't understand life.”

- Unknown

“Being happy doesn't mean you're perfect. It just means you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.”

- K.B Indiana (age 14)

“If you think sunshine brings you happiness, then you haven't danced in the rain.”

- unknown

“When I think of the last time somebody made me feel good.. the last time somebody made me really laugh... the last time somebody made me happy... I was with you.”

- unknown

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."

- Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

“One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.”

- Maria Montessori

“I caught the happiness virus last night . When I was out singing beneath the stars. “

- Hafiz of Persia

“Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness.”

- Harold Kushner

“People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.”

- Anton Chekhov

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

- Mohandas K. Gandhi

“Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

- Norman MacEwan

“It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day to day basis.”

- Margaret Bonnano

“Among the things you can give and still keep are your word, a smile, and a grateful heart.”

- Zig Ziglar

“All seasons are beautiful for the person who carries happiness within.”

- Horace Friess

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

- Buddha

“Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.”

- Jack Kornfield (more)

“The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up.”

- Mark Twain

“My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?”

- Charles Schulz

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

- Helen Keller

“No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be perfectly happy till all are happy.”

- Herbert Spencer

“When all your desires are distilled;

You will cast just two votes:

To love more,

And be happy.”

- Rumi

“Give yourself up to this moment. Dare to see it. Now look down at your feet; slip out of those invisible tethers. Then ask: Where would you take yourself right this moment if you walked toward your most heartfelt dream? What would your life look like? What would your body look and feel like? What level of energy would you have? What might be your favorite activity? What would your daily life include? Imagine happiness -- the sweet glow of inner contentment, the way it tastes and smells and feels.”

- Chris Downie

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

- G. K. Chesterton

“The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is.”

- Desiderius Erasmus

“The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase, if you pursue happiness you'll never find it.

- C. P. Snow

“The truth which has made us free will in the end make us glad also.”

- Felix Adler

“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.”

- James M. Barrie

“If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator.”

- W. Beran Wolfe

“We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.”

- Anne Frank

“What is the meaning of life? To be happy and useful.”

- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

“Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh

“Happiness is a complex path that becomes easy only as we walk it.”

- Andrea Polard

“Enjoy everything that happens in your life, but never make your happiness or success dependent on an attachment to any person, place or thing.”

- Wayne Dyer

“Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.”

- Buddha

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”

- M. Scott Peck

“The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak.”

- Baruch Spinoza

“Happiness comes when you believe in what you are doing, know what you are doing, and love what you are doing.”

- Brian Tracy

“Purpose is the place where your deep gladness meets the world's needs.”

- Frederick Buechner

“Gratitude is one of the sweet shortcuts to finding peace of mind and happiness inside. No matter what is going on outside of us, there's always something we could be grateful for.”

- Barry Neil Kaufman

“We can travel a long way and do many things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences. it is born from letting go of what is unnecessary, and knowing ourselves to be always at home.”

- Sharon Salzberg

“The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.”

- Victor Hugo

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. Misleading translation of: Now, Kalamas, don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.' When you know for yourselves that, 'These qualities are skillful; these qualities are

blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness' -- then you should enter & remain in them.”

- Buddha

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”

- E. B. White

“In a true partnership, the kind worth striving for, the kind worth insisting on, and even, frankly, worth divorcing over, both people try to give as much or even a little more than they get. 'Deserves' is not the point. And 'owes' is certainly not the point. The point is to make the other person as happy as we can, because their happiness adds to ours. The point is -- in the right hands, everything that you give, you get.”

- Amy Bloom

“Being happy is something you have to learn. I often surprise myself by saying 'Wow, this is it. I guess I'm happy. I got a home I love. A career that I love. I'm even feeling more and more at peace with myself.' If there's something else to happiness, let me know. I'm ambitious for that, too.”

- Harrison Ford

“Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.”

- Eleanor Roosevelt

“Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.”

- Leo Tolstoy

“The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being.”

- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lamat

“By engaging in a delusive quest for happiness, we bring only suffering upon ourselves. In our frantic search for something to quench our thirst, we overlook the water all around us and drive ourselves into exile from our own lives.”

- Sharon Salzberg

“I never could be good when I was not happy.”

- Julia Ward Howe

“The greatest happiness is to transform one's feelings into action.”

- Madame de Stael

“People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

- Abraham Lincoln

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.”

- Groucho Marx

“Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state to another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.”

- Alexandre Dumas

“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.”

- Carl Jung

“Happiness is a virtue, not its reward.”

- Baruch Spinoza

“Satisfaction of one's curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life.”

- Linus Pauling

“To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.”

- Bertrand Russell

“It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it.”

- W. Somerset Maugham

“One should never direct people towards happiness, because happiness too is an idol of the market-place. One should direct them towards mutual affection. A beast gnawing at its prey can be happy too, but only human beings can feel affection for each other, and this is the highest achievement they can aspire to.”

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“People say that money is not the key to happiness, but I always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.”

- Joan Rivers

“All men have a sweetness in their life. That is what helps them go on. It is towards that they turn when they feel too worn out.”

- Albert Camus

“All happiness or unhappiness solely depends upon the quality of the object to which we are attached by love.”

- Baruch Spinoza

“People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.”

- Anton Chekhov

“If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.”

- Edith Wharton

“Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves.”

- Helen Keller

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

- Marcel Proust

“The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration.”

- Claude Monet

“Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Between levity and cheerfulness there is a wide distinction; and the mind which is most open to levity is frequently a stranger to cheerfulness.”

- Hugh Blair

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

“Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.”

- John Barrymore

“Growth itself contains the germ of happiness.”

- Pearl S. Buck

“What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.”

- Leo Buscaglia

“When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.”

- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

“The ultimate end of education is happiness or a good human life, a life enriched by the possession of every kind of good, by the enjoyment of every type of satisfaction.”

- Mortimer Adler

“Happiness: We rarely feel it.

I would buy it, beg it, steal it,

Pay in coins of dripping blood

For this one transcendent good.”

- Amy Lowell

“Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.”

- Edward de Bono

“The world has to learn that the actual pleasure derived from material things is of rather low quality on the whole and less even in quantity than it looks to those who have not tried it.”

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

“You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.”

- Eric Hoffer

“I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

- Albert Schweitzer

“There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.”

- Carl Jung

“You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.”

- Barbara De Angelis

“Love is a condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”

- Robert Heinlein

“Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.”

- C. S. Lewis

“There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.”

- George Sand

“The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven.”

- John Milton

“The happiness that is genuinely satisfying is accompanied by the fullest exercise of our faculties and the fullest realization of the world in which we live.”

- Bertrand Russell

“Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness.”

- Sophocles

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh

“That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.”

- Henry David Thoreau

“Remember that as a teenager you are in the last stage of your life when you will be happy to hear the phone is for you.”

- Fran Leibowitz

“To fill the hour -- that is happiness.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I have now reigned about 50 years in victory or peace, beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this situation, I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot. They amount to fourteen.”

- Abd Er-Rahman III of Spain

“50 Happiness Quotes to Change the Way You Think

“People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

―Abraham Lincoln

It usually isn’t what you have, where you are, or what you’ve been through that makes you happy or unhappy, it’s how you think about it all. It starts on the inside. You control your thoughts. The only person who can hurt your happiness in the long run is YOU.

Here are 50 thought-provoking quotes about happiness gathered from recent entries in our blog archive that will help you think on the bright side.

It only takes one person to make you happy and change your life: YOU.

Your life will improve only when you take small chances, and the first and most difficult chance you can take is to be honest with yourself.

Stop focusing on how stressed you are and remember how blessed you are. It could be so much worse.

It is not what happens to you, but how you respond to what happens to you. Count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.

Look for something positive about this moment. Even if you have to look a little harder than usual, it still exists.

When you smile about the life you live, you end up living a life worth smiling about.

Remember, social comparison is the thief of happiness. You could spend a lifetime worrying about what others have, but it wouldn’t get you anything.

Happiness comes more easily when you feel good about yourself without feeling the need for anyone else’s approval.

Be nice to people on your way up because you might meet them again on your way back down.

Set an example. Treat everyone with kindness and respect, even those who are rude to you – not because they are nice, but because you are. (Read The Four Agreements.)

Kindness is not to be mistaken for weakness, nor forgiveness for acceptance. It’s about knowing resentment of any kind is not on the path to happiness.

Give as much as you can, but don’t allow yourself to be used. Listen to others closely, but don’t lose your own voice.

Say what you need to say. Speak your truth. There is no greater sadness than holding on to the words you never had the courage to speak.

You can’t change how people treat you or what they say about you. All you can do is change how you react and who you choose to be around.

Negative company will never give you a positive life. Examine what you tolerate in the long-term.

What you allow is what will continue. It’s always better to spend more time alone than allow negative people and their opinions to derail you from your destiny.

When other people treat you poorly, walk away, smile and keep being YOU. Don’t ever let someone else’s bitterness change the person you are.

Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth. It’s their loss, not yours.

One of the most freeing things we learn in life is that we don’t have to like everyone, everyone doesn’t have to like us, and that’s OK.

When someone says, “You’ve changed,” it’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes it just means you stopped living your life their way.

Never be ashamed of how you feel. You have the right to feel any emotion that comes to you, and to follow a path that makes you happy.

The unhappiest people in this world are the people who care the most about what everyone else thinks.

You can’t base your idea of success and happiness on other people’s opinions and expectations. (Read 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.)

Happiness and success is all about spending your life in your own way. Be yourself. No one can ever tell you you’re doing it wrong.

It’s always better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than the top of the one you don’t.

Work to create a life that feels right to YOU, not one that looks right to everyone else.

No amount of money will make you happy if you aren’t happy with yourself.

Maybe the thing you’re scared of is exactly what you should do. Sometimes life is about risking it all for a dream no one can see but you.

You can’t always wait for the perfect moment. Sometimes you must dare to do it because life is too short to regret and wonder what could have been.

The most reliable way to predict the future is to create it. Participate in life instead of just watching it pass you by.

Nothing’s more fun than doing what people say you can’t do.

Almost anything is possible if you’ve got enough time and enough nerve.

Great challenges make life interesting; overcoming them makes life meaningful. It’s how you deal with failure that determines your happiness and success.

Let your mistakes be your motivation, not your excuses. Decide right now that negative experiences from your past won’t predict your future.

What is coming is better than what is gone. Don’t give up hope. Good things often happen when you least expect it.

If you take another step, and another, you will be surprised to know how far you can go from the point you thought was the end.

Nothing is more beautiful and powerful than a smile that has struggled through the tears.

Any fool can be happy when times are good. It takes a strong soul with real heart to develop smiles out of situations that make us weep.

No matter how long it takes, it will get better. Tough situations build strong people in the end.

As we grow older and wiser, we begin to realize what we need and what we need to leave behind. Sometimes walking away is a step forward.

At the end of the day, you can either focus on what’s tearing you apart, or what’s holding you together.

One of the most rewarding moments in life is when you finally find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.

Whatever you do, don’t get stuck on the one thing that ruins your day. Smile and be grateful. Life is too short to waste on negativity.

The less you expect, the more pleasant life gets.

Patience can be bitter, but the seeds you plant now will bear sweet fruit. (Read Flourish.)

Live simply. Love generously. Speak truthfully. Breathe deeply. Do your best. Leave everything else to the powers above you.

Do not dwell so much on creating your perfect life that you forget to live.

The trick is to enjoy your life today. Don’t wish it away by waiting for better days ahead.

Pay attention to the little things, because when you really miss “the good old days,” you miss the little things the most, like just laughing with someone special.

Go for long walks. Indulge in great conversations. Pay attention to the moment. Count your blessings. Let go for a little while and just be and breathe.

Life

Quote About Life

“I am my own biggest critic. Before anyone else has criticized me, I have already criticized myself. But for the rest of my life, I am going to be with me and I don't want to spend my life with someone who is always critical. So I am going to stop being my own critic. It's high time that I accept all the great things about me.”

― C. JoyBell C.

“Life is spectacular. Forget the dark things. Take a drink and let time wash them away to where ever time washes away to.”

― Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now

“Focus on making yourself better, not on thinking that you are better.”

― Bohdi Sanders, The Secrets of Worldly Wisdom: Your Key to Unlocking Success

“Too many locks, not enough keys.”

― Sarah Dessen

“I believe that you're great, that there's something magnificent about you. Regardless of what has happened to you in your life, regardless of how young or how old you think you might be, the moment you begin to think properly, there's something that is within you, there's power within you, that's greater than the world. It will begin to emerge. It will take over your life. It will feed you. It will clothe you. It will guide you, protect you, direct you, sustain your very existence, if you let it. Now, that is what I know for sure.”

― Michael Beckwith

“Not everything is supposed to become something beautiful and long-lasting. Sometimes people come into your life to show you what is right and what is wrong, to show you who you can be, to teach you to love yourself, to make you feel better for a little while, or to just be someone to walk with at night and spill your life to. Not everyone is going to stay forever, and we still have to keep on going and thank them for what they’ve given us.”

― Emery Allen

“Life is not always perfect. Like a road, it has many bends, ups and down, but that’s its beauty.”

― Amit Ray, World Peace: The Voice of a Mountain Bird

“There wasn't a lot of bullshit in my heaven.”

― Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones

“Life will just not wait for us to live it:

We are in it, now, and Now is the time to Live”

― Michelle Geaney

“They've drummed the miraculous out of you, but you don't want it to be like that. You want the miraculous. You want everything to still be new.”

― Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now

“fight for what you believe in,

for if you don't you will be forever fighting against yourself.”

― Keisha Keenleyside

“If you want to fly on the sky, you need to leave the earth. If you want to move forward, you need to let go the past that drags you down.”

― Amit Ray, World Peace: The Voice of a Mountain Bird

“Tidak ada niat baik yang boleh dicapai dengan cara buruk, dan sebaliknya tidak ada niat buruk yang berubah baik meski dilakukan dengan cara-cara baik.”

― Tere Liye, Rembulan Tenggelam Di Wajahmu

“The world's a hard place, Danny. It don't care. It don't hate you and me, but it don't love us, either. Terrible things happen in the world, and they're things no one can explain. Good people die in bad, painful ways and leave the folks that love them all alone. Sometimes it seems like it's only the bad people who stay healthy and prosper. The world don't love you, but your momma does and so do I.”

― Stephen King, The Shining

“What did a happy ending even mean in real life, anyway? In stories you simply said, 'They lived happily ever after,' and that was it. But in real life people had to keep on living, day after day, year after year.”

― Scott Westerfeld, Afterworlds

“Only God can take our failures and turn them into victories.”

― Evinda Lepins

“The man armed with knowledge has a better chance of survival than the man who is simply the fittest. Knowledge is the true strength. Muscle is where the myth is.”

― Suzy Kassem, Rise up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“If you are driven by fear, anger or pride nature will force you to compete. If you are guided by courage, awareness, tranquility and peace nature will serve you.”

― Amit Ray, Nonviolence: The Transforming Power

“Art enables us to find ourselves and loose ourselves at the same time.”

― Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island

“Sometimes it takes a meltdown to cool down.”

― Evinda Lepins

“Change the world, I know I won’t,

Enthralling as always I hope it remains,

A kaleidoscope of joy, sorrow and pain.

But my only wish as I take this jaunt,

Is for my words on you to impress upon,

A smile, a tear or even an angry frown.”

― Anurag Anand

“In my errant life I roamed

to learn the secrets of women and men,

of gods and dreams.

I lived in wealth and poverty,

in fame and calamity.

I saw every country of our world,

I lived a thousand lives.

Many lives I spent, other lives I squandered,

for in my life I never traveled, all I did was wander.”

― Roman Payne

“An awful realization that I have been fooling myself all my life thinking there was a next thing to do to keep the show going and actually I'm just a sick clown and so is everybody else...”

― Jack Kerouac, Big Sur

“Jawaban teragung pada caci maki dan kebusukan: “Bahkan walau ingin membalas, aku tak kuasa. Sebab aku tak punya kata-kata keji dan nista.”

― Salim Akhukum Fillah, Menyimak Kicau Merajut Makna

“Righteous moves,

Invigorating spirits,

Sharing believes, and

Empowering, just one

let's you RISE, above all.”

― Norbert Harms

“Take care of your life force and always keep it streaming. Always be active and creative, and never ever stop dreaming.”

― Suzy Kassem, Rise up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“...how horrible and beautiful it is, that our eyes blur the truth when we can't bear to see it.”

― Juliette

“Trust is like an eraser,

it get smaller & smaller

[after every mistake]”

― Unknown, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

“The adult were once young.

The young have not yet attained adulthood.The young must learn to appreciate the wisdom of elderly people and learn from their life experiences.”

― Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Great: Be Great: Beautiful Quotes

“Life is meant to be shared. We need each other.”

― Lailah Gifty Akita, Beautiful Quotes

The Best Life Quotes

"You can close your eyes to things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel."

- Unknown

“Live with no excuses and love with no regrets”

- Montel

“Feelings change - memories don't.”

- Joel Alexander

“Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's learning to dance in the rain.”

- idk_

“I've learned that things change, people change, and it doesn't mean you forget the past or try to cover it up. It simply means that you move on and treasure the memories. Letting go doesn't mean giving up... it means accepting that some things weren't meant to be."

Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day.

Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course?

Each of us has such a bank. It's name is TIME.

Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.

Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose.

It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day.

If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against "tomorrow."

You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!

The clock is running!! Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who just missed a train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask someone who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal at the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with. And remember time waits for no one.Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it’s called the present.”

- email

“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”

- John F. Kennedy

“Never allow someone to be your priority while you're just their option.”

- Unknown

At age 4 success is not peeing in your pants.

At age 12 success is having friends.

At age 16 success is having a drivers license.

At age 20 success is having sex.

At age 35 success is having money.

At age 50 success is having money.

At age 60 success is having sex.

At age 70 success is having a drivers license.

At age 75 success is having friends.

At age 80 success is not peeing in your pants.

- Unknown

“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.”

- Unknown

Love

Quotes About Love

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.”

― Marilyn Monroe

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, Love like you'll never be hurt,

Sing like there's nobody listening, And live like it's heaven on earth.”

― William W. Purkey

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

― Dr. Seuss

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”

― Elbert Hubbard

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

― Martin Luther King Jr. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches.

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for

who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.”

― Bob Marley

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”

― André Gide, Autumn Leaves

“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”

― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”

― Elie Wiesel

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.”

― Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up.”

― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

― William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

“There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.”

― Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

“This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And baby, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up because if you give up, you'll never find your soulmate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.”

― Marilyn Monroe

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

― Lao Tzu

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”

― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

“You love me. Real or not real?" I tell him, "Real.”

― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She's not perfect—you aren't either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break—her heart. So don't hurt her, don't change her, don't analyze and don't expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she's not there.”

― Bob Marley

“I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough..”

― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,

And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

“I'm in love with you," he said quietly.

"Augustus," I said.

"I am," he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.”

― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it.”

― Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember

“If you can make a woman laugh, you can make her do anything.”

― Marilyn Monroe

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.”

― Robert Fulghum, True Love

“People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.

A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master...”

― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

“The real lover is the man who can thrill you by kissing your forehead or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space.”

― Marilyn Monroe

“You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not.”

― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.”

― Anaïs Nin

Love For her/him

Cute love quotes for her

“You are every reason, every hope and every dream I've ever had”

― Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook)

“I love you and that's the beginning and end of everything”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Sometimes, it's hard to find words to tell you how much you mean to me. A lot of times, I don't say anything at all. But I hope someday, you'll understand, having you is what I live for.”

― Unknown

Best love quotes for him

“If I knew I would be falling in love with an angel, I would have searched for you harder and found you sooner.”

― Unknown

Short quotes about love

“I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever”

― Rabindranath Tagore

“To be your friend was all I ever wanted; to be your lover was all I ever dreamed.”

― Valerie Lombardo

Sweet love quotes for her

“The hours I spend with you I look upon as sort of a perfumed garden, a dim twilight, and a fountain singing to it... you and you alone make me feel that I am alive. Other men it is said have seen angels, but I have seen thee and thou art enough”

― George Moore

Best love quotes for her

“I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I've ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours.”

― Nicholas Sparks

Cute love quotes for him

“I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.”

― Roy Croft

“Within you, I lose myself. Without you, I find myself wanting to be lost again.”

― Unknown

Loving you quotes for him

“To the world, you may be one person, but to one person you are the world”

― Bill Wilson

“My love for you has no depth, its boundaries are ever-expanding. My love and my life with you will be a never-ending story.”

― Christina White

“You may hold my hand for a while, but you hold my heart forever”

― Unknown

“You give me hope in my times of trial, joy in my saddest hours and love in all I do.”

― Unknown

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”

― A.A. Milne

Cute love quotes for her

“You're special to me in every way. Thank you for being who you are and for letting me be myself”

― Unknown

“Sweetness flows from your appearance and your beauty makes me fall more in love with you. Anytime I feel low, I think about the good times you have given me and everything seems good again.”

― Unknown

Best love quotes for her

“If I could be anything in the world I would want to be a teardrop because I would be born in your eyes, live on your cheeks, and die on your lips”

― Unknown

“You're the one reason I wake up in the morning, you're the one reason I find a way to smile, you're the one person that can change everything around when it is going bad. Your eyes, your smile, your everything, your laugh, your look in your eyes when you talk to me. It's just everything about you that makes me want you even more.”

― Unknown

“If I could have just one wish, I would wish to wake up everyday to the sound of your breath on my neck, the warmth of your lips on my cheek, the touch of your fingers on my skin, and the feel of your heart beating with mine... Knowing that I could never find that feeling with anyone other than you. “

― Courtney Kuchta

“I love you because I love you, because it would be impossible not to love you. I love you without question, without calculation, without reason good or bad, faithfully, with all my heart and soul, and every faculty.”

― Juliette Drout

Short love quotes for her

“I will always care for you, even if we're not together and even if we're far, far away from each other.”

― Unknown

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever.”

― Alfred Tennyson

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.”

― Pablo Neruda

Cute love quotes for her

“If kisses were stars, I'd give you the sky.

If touches were tears, I would cry.

If love was water, I'd give you the sea.

And be with you for all eternity.”

“I may not get to see you as often as I like, I may not get to hold you in my arms all through the night. But deep in my heart, I truly know, you're the one that I love and I can't let you go.”

― Unknown

I Love You quotes for her

“My love for you knows no bounds, its timeless and endless. You can enrich my life in more ways then I can ever express in words. I felt strongly connected to you the moment I looked into your eyes. I was drawn to your soul in a way I have never experienced before. You are the only one can see the door to my soul.”

― Unknown

“My six word love story: I can’t imagine life without you”

― Unknown

“I love you as one loves certain dark things, secretly, between the shadow and the soul.”

― Pablo Neruda

Sweet love quotes for her

“If I had to choose between breathing and loving you I would use my last breath to tell you I love you”

― DeAnna Anderson

“My love for you is a journey, starting at forever and ending at never.”

― Unknown

“By night, Love, tie your heart to mine, and the two together in their sleep will defeat the darkness”

― Pablo Neruda

Cute quotes about love

“I’m thinking of you, that’s all I do, all the time. You’re always the first and the last thing on this heart of mine. No matter where I go, or what I do, I’m thinking of you.”

― Dierks Bentley

Work

ForbesQuotes: Thoughts On The Business Of Life

1. Life is about making an impact, not making an income. –Kevin Kruse

2. Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. –Napoleon Hill

3. Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. –Albert Einstein

4. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. –Robert Frost

5. I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse. –Florence Nightingale

6. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky

7. I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. –Michael Jordan

8. The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. –Amelia Earhart

9. Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. –Babe Ruth

10. Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. –W. Clement Stone

11. Life isn’t about getting and having, it’s about giving and being. –Kevin Kruse

12. Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. –John Lennon

13. We become what we think about. –Earl Nightingale

14.Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. –Mark Twain

15.Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. –Charles Swindoll

16. The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. –Alice Walker

17. The mind is everything. What you think you become. –Buddha

18. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. –Chinese Proverb

19. An unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates

20. Eighty percent of success is showing up. –Woody Allen

21. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. –Steve Jobs

22. Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. –Vince Lombardi

23. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. –Stephen Covey

24. Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. –Pablo Picasso

25. You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. –Christopher Columbus

The Forbes eBook Of Motivational Quotes

Discover the timeless advice that the world’s great thinkers, billionaires, writers and businesspeople have to offer.

26. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. –Maya Angelou

27. Either you run the day, or the day runs you. –Jim Rohn

28. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. –Henry Ford

29. The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. –Mark Twain

30. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

31. The best revenge is massive success. –Frank Sinatra

32. People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily. –Zig Ziglar

33. Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. –Anais Nin

34. If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced. –Vincent Van Gogh

35. There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. –Aristotle

36. Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. –Jesus

37. The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

38. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. –Henry David Thoreau

39. When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me. –Erma Bombeck

40. Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him. –Booker T. Washington

41. Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart. – Ancient Indian Proverb

42. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. –Theodore Roosevelt

43. Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. –George Addair

44. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. –Plato

45. Teach thy tongue to say, “I do not know,” and thous shalt progress. –Maimonides

46. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. –Arthur Ashe

47. When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. –John Lennon

48. Fall seven times and stand up eight. –Japanese Proverb

49. When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. –Helen Keller

50. Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see. –Confucius

51. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. –Anne Frank

52. When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. –Lao Tzu

53. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. –Maya Angelou

54. Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions. –Dalai Lama

55. If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on. –Sheryl Sandberg

56. First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end. –Aristotle

57. If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. –Latin Proverb

58. You can’t fall if you don’t climb. But there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground. –Unknown

59. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained. –Marie Curie

60. Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. –Les Brown

61. Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. –Joshua J. Marine

62. If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. –Booker T. Washington

63. I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. –Leonardo da Vinci

64. Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. –Jamie Paolinetti

65. You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing, no one to blame. –Erica Jong

66. What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. –Bob Dylan

67. I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong. –Benjamin Franklin

68. In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. –Bill Cosby

69. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein

70. The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it. –Chinese Proverb

71. There are no traffic jams along the extra mile. –Roger Staubach

72. It is never too late to be what you might have been. –George Eliot

73. You become what you believe. –Oprah Winfrey

WATCH: What Oprah Has Learned From Her 25 Years Of Interviews

74. I would rather die of passion than of boredom. –Vincent van Gogh

75. A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty. –Unknown

76. It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings. –Ann Landers

77. If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them, and half as much money. –Abigail Van Buren

78. Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs. –Farrah Gray

79. The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself–the invisible battles inside all of us–that’s where it’s at. –Jesse Owens

80. Education costs money. But then so does ignorance. –Sir Claus Moser

81. I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear. –Rosa Parks

82. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. –Confucius

83. If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough. –Oprah Winfrey

84. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. –Dalai Lama

85. You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. –Maya Angelou

86. Dream big and dare to fail. –Norman Vaughan

87. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. –Martin Luther King Jr.

88. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. –Teddy Roosevelt

89. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. –Tony Robbins

90. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. –Gloria Steinem

91. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live. –Mae Jemison

92. You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try. –Beverly Sills

93. Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. –Eleanor Roosevelt

94. Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be. –Grandma Moses

95. The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me. –Ayn Rand

96. When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. –Henry Ford

97. It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. –Abraham Lincoln

98. Change your thoughts and you change your world. –Norman Vincent Peale

99. Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. –Benjamin Franklin

100. Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, “I’m possible!” –Audrey Hepburn

101. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. –Steve Jobs

102. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. –Zig Ziglar

Wisdom

Quotes About Wisdom

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

― Eleanor Roosevelt, This is My Story

“It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.”

― Maurice Switzer

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

― Mark Twain

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

― William Shakespeare, As You Like It

“When someone loves you, the way they talk about you is different. You feel safe and comfortable.”

― Jess C. Scott, The Intern

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

― Aristotle

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

― Socrates

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”

― Isaac Asimov

“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”

― John Lennon

“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.”

― Mark Twain

“Hold fast to dreams,

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird,

That cannot fly.”

― Langston Hughes

“May you live every day of your life.”

― Jonathan Swift

“Never laugh at live dragons.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien

“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.

" Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget, that until the day God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words, 'Wait and Hope.”

― Alexandre Dumas

“The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back.”

― Abigail Van Buren

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

― Aristotle, Metaphysics

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”

― Paulo Coelho, Alchemist

“If you're reading this...

Congratulations, you're alive.

If that's not something to smile about,

then I don't know what is.”

― Chad Sugg, Monsters Under Your Head

“Think before you speak. Read before you think.”

― Fran Lebowitz, The Fran Lebowitz Reader

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.”

― Oprah Winfrey

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

― Socrates

“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.”

― Isaac Asimov, Foundation

“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”

― Confucius

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”

― Martin Luther King Jr., A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”

― Albert Einstein

“God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars.”

― Elbert Hubbard

“Angry people are not always wise.”

― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

― Albert Einstein

“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”

― Leo Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata

Wise Quotes

Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.

― Sholom Aleichem

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.

― Plato

“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

― William Shakespeare

“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”

― Bruce Lee

“A beautiful woman delights the eye; a wise woman, the understanding; a pure one, the soul.”

― Minna Antrim

“Tell me I'm clever, Tell me I'm kind, Tell me I'm talented, Tell me I'm cute, Tell me I'm sensitive, Graceful and wise, Tell me I'm perfect - But tell me the truth.”

― Shel Silverstein

“A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether.”

― Roy H. Williams

“It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.”

― Winston Churchill

“True love is not a strong, fiery, impetuous passion. It is, on the contrary, an element calm and deep. It looks beyond mere externals, and is attracted by qualities alone. It is wise and discriminating, and its devotion is real and abiding.”

― Ellen G. White

“A fool can throw a stone in a pond that 100 wise men can not get out.”

― Saul Bellow

“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.”

― Charles Spurgeon

“To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.”

― Buddha

“A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim.”

― Maya Angelou

“We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.”

― George Bernard Shaw

“A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart.”

―Jonathan Swift

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

― Benjamin Franklin

“Be happy. It's one way of being wise.”

― Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

“A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.”

― Plato

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”

― William James

“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”

― Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.”

―Thomas Szasz

“From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own.”

― Publilius Syrus

“The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right questions.”

― Claude Levi-Strauss

“Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?”

― Voltaire

Concepts of Happiness

Concepts of Happiness Across Time and Cultures

Shigehiro Oishi, University of Virginia

Jesse Graham, University of Southern California

Selin Kesebir, London Business School

Iolanda Costa Galinha, Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

In press, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Correspondence to :

Shigehiro Oishi

Department of Psychology

University of Virginia

P.O. Box 400400

Charlottesville, VA 22904-4400

e-mail: soishi@virginia.edu

10,999 words, including abstract, reference, footnote, and acknowledgement.

Concepts of Happiness 2

Abstract

We explored cultural and historical variation in concepts of happiness. First, we analyzed the

definitions of happiness in dictionaries from 30 nations to understand cultural similarities and

differences in happiness concepts. Second, we analyzed the definition of happiness in Webster’s

dictionaries from 1850 to present day in order to understand historical changes in American

English. Third, we coded the State of the Union addresses given by U.S. presidents from 1790 to

2010. Finally, we investigated the appearance of the phrases “happy nation” vs. “happy person”

in Google Ngram Viewer from 1800 to 2008. Across cultures and time, happiness was most

frequently defined as good luck and favorable external conditions. However, in American

English, this definition was replaced by definitions focused on favorable internal feeling states.

Our findings highlight the value of a historical perspective in the study of psychological concepts.

Key words: Happiness, Subjective well-being, Culture, Historical

Concepts of Happiness 3

Concepts of Happiness Across Time and Cultures

What is happiness? Although the scientific study of happiness and subjective well-being

(SWB) has thrived over the last 30 years, the concept of happiness has been elusive. In fact, Ed

Diener (1984) advocated the use of the scientific term SWB as opposed to happiness precisely

because of the ambiguities associated with the term “happiness.” SWB has been frequently

operationalized as the subjective evaluation of life as a whole, the presence of pleasant emotions,

and the relative absence of unpleasant emotions (Diener, 1984). As SWB research became

popular in psychological science, some researchers started using the term happiness (e.g.,

Lyubomirsky & Ross, 1997). However, the fundamental question regarding the meaning of

happiness has been examined only rarely (see Wierzbicka, 2004 for this critique).

The main goal of this article is to explore various concepts of happiness using current and

historical dictionaries and speeches (cf. Morling & Lamoreaux, 2008; Simonton, 2003). Just as

our understandings of action (Noguchi, Handley, & Albarracín, 2011), emotion (Pennebaker,

2011), cognition (Semin, 2000; Maass, Karasawa, Politi, & Suga, 2006) and culture (Kashima &

Kashima, 1998) have been deepened by detailed linguistic analyses, we believe that the linguistic

analysis of the term happiness is critical to advance psychological theory and the scientific

understanding of well-being.

The second goal is to demonstrate the utility of a historical perspective on psychological

science. Psychological scientists today are concerned almost exclusively with the latest

developments and cutting-edge research (see Nisbett, 1990; Oishi, Kesebir, & Snyder, 2009). It

is, however, important to document the history of our science and the role that history might play

in shaping our science in order to avoid repeating mistakes (cf. Allport, 1954; Hilgard, 1987). In

addition to the epistemological advantage, there are also advantages to investigating historical

Concepts of Happiness 4

changes in psychological phenomena and concepts. The cross-temporal meta-analysis of survey

results from different historical periods, for example, can address important questions such as

whether Americans are increasingly more agentic over time (Roberts & Helson, 1997), more

narcissistic (Twenge & Campbell, 2008) or not (Trzesniewski, Donnellan, & Robins, 2008), and

whether or not Japanese people are becoming more individualistic over time (Hamamura, 2012).

Similarly, the linguistic analysis of popular songs over time can reveal historical changes in

idealized emotions and personality (DeWall, Pond, Campbell, & Twenge, 2011). Cultural

differences and historical changes in concepts can be particularly important for research

literatures examining reports of subjective states. Building on the previous research on culture,

the self, and emotion from a historical perspective (e.g., Baumeister, 1987; Cohen, 2003), the

present research shows other concrete empirical strategies by which a historical perspective can

deepen psychological science, using subjective well-being research as an example.

Historical and Philosophical Perspectives

Ancient Happiness

The concept of happiness has been most extensively analyzed by philosophers and

historians. Most philosophers and historians agree that the concept of happiness in antiquity

centered around good luck and fortune, whereas contemporary Americans view happiness as

something over which they have control and something that they can actively pursue (Kesebir &

Diener, 2008; McMahon, 2006; Oishi, 2012). For example, Lu (2001) analyzed the influential

classic Liji (禮記), or the Classic of Rites, compiled some time between 5th and 1st century BC,

and observed that “fu” (福) was used to mean “fortunate, lucky, smooth and free of obstacles” (p.

409). Similarly, historian McMahon (2006) observed that the Greek term eudaimonia (the term

often translated as happiness in English; Thomson, 1953) was first used by the poet Hesiod in

Concepts of Happiness 5

the Work and Days as follows: “Happy and lucky the man” (eudaimon te kai olbios). Because

the related term eudaimon (the adjective of eudaimonia) is the combination of eu (good) and

daimon (god, spirit, demon), McMahon concludes “eudaimonia thus contains within it a notion

of fortune—for to have a good daimon on your side, a guiding spirit, is to be lucky—and a

notion of divinity, for a daimon is an emissary of the gods who watches over each of us” (pp. 3-

4). Thus, in ancient Greece happiness was deemed as something beyond human agency,

controlled mainly by luck and the gods. McMahon goes on to declare: “happiness is what

happens to us, and over that we have no control” (p. 19).

It is interesting to note then that whereas poets and tragic writers accepted the fatalistic

view of happiness, Socrates thought of happiness as something at least partially within one’s

control (McMahon, 2006). In The Symposium, Socrates argues that the education of desire is a

key to happiness. That is, Socrates insisted that children should learn to appreciate the beauty of

individuals and nature, so that they can acquire the appreciation for knowledge and wisdom as

adults and approach happiness properly. Likewise, in the Republic, Plato has Socrates state the

following: “While [children are] young, they should be educated and should study philosophy in

a way which suits their age…(W)hen their physical strength starts to wane and they are too old

to play a public part in the community or to serve in the militia, they should be allowed to roam

free and graze at will, and to concentrate on philosophy, with everything else being incidental.

This is the correct programme for people who are going to live a happy life” (Waterfield, 1993, p.

221).

The Socratic view of happiness can also be seen in Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics

(Thomson, 1953), in that Aristotle emphasizes the distinction between happiness and amusement,

and argues that happiness consists in a contemplative (philosophical) life. While Aristotle shares

Concepts of Happiness 6

the Socratic view of happiness, which is more agentic than other Greek poets and philosophers

conceived at that time, it is important to note that Aristotle is quick to point out the importance of

external factors such as good friends, health, and resources. Indeed, the prominent moral

philosopher Martha Nussbaum (1986/2001) maintains that Aristotle was very aware of the fact

that virtue and contemplation alone do not guarantee a eudaimonic life. In Nichomachean Ethics

Aristotle stated, “Nevertheless, it is evident that eudaimonia stands in need of good things from

outside, as we have said; for it is impossible or difficult to do fine things without resources” (EN

1099a31-3; Nussbaum, 1986/2001 p. 318). Aristotle discussed the story of Priam who, for his

entire life was virtuous, yet lost his status, resources, family, and friends due to war. According

to Plato, Priam led a eudaimonic life, but according to Aristotle he did not, due to his lack of luck.

Immanuel Kant (who took the Planotic view of eudaimonia) made it clear that moral philosophy

should focus on factors that can be controlled. Nussbaum (1986/2001) argues that the dominant

view today of eudaimonia as controllable stems from Kant and his influential followers. More

importantly, Nussbaum emphasizes that Aristotle used the Greek term makariotés (fortune,

blessing) interchangeably with eudaimonia, which indicates that living well to Aristotle also

meant being blessed. Thus, the original meaning of happiness and a good life is being fortunate,

lucky, and blessed, which were highly contingent upon external conditions. This fragile, external

view of happiness was dominant for centuries.

When and how did the view of happiness turn from non-agentic to agentic, external to

internal? According to McMahon (2006), it was a gradual process, but it accelerated in the

Enlightenment era. McMahon summarized the antagonistic sentiment toward pursuit of

happiness in earlier eras. For instance, St. Augustine’s City of God (believed to be written in the

early 5th century) stated that “the earthly quest for happiness is doomed” (McMahon, 2006, p.

Concepts of Happiness 7

102) and that true happiness is “unattainable in our present life” (p. 104). In the 13th century,

however, St. Thomas Aquinas clarified the role of human effort in the process of eudemonia,

which he conceived as becoming closer to God. Aquinas claimed that partial happiness can be

achieved in this life via “the ‘theological virtues’ of charity, hope, and faith” (p. 131). This

signaled an important departure from ancient Greece in that Aristotle and Plato viewed happiness

as something that can be achieved only by a small number of extremely fortunate and talented

individuals, whereas Aquinas viewed partial happiness as obtainable by everyone via a divine

gift. In the 16th century, Martin Luther went one step further, claiming that it was not a sin to be

happy, and that “Christians should be merry…To live life as a justified man was apparently to

experience the world as a ‘pleasure garden for the soul’” (McMahon, 2006, p. 172).

American Happiness

The Reformation in the 16th century brought justification for pursuing earthly happiness.

However, Luther, Calvin, and their followers advocated primarily a deeply religious life. To this

end, it is interesting to note that the Enlightenment movement of the 18th century shifted the main

question from the religious “How can I be saved?” to the secular “How can I be happy?”

(McMahon, 2006).

Thomas Jefferson’s 1776 Declaration of Independence included the pursuit of happiness

along with life and liberty as an unalienable right. The emphasis on an active pursuit of

happiness stands in stark contrast to the more passive luck/fortune/fate concept of happiness.

Therefore, historians have debated the meaning of happiness in the Declaration of Independence.

Because Jefferson was very familiar with the writings of John Locke, who had discussed the

rights to life, liberty, and property a century earlier, many speculated that what Jefferson meant

was the pursuit of private property and wealth. However, other scholars including McMahon

Concepts of Happiness 8

(2006), speculated that what Jefferson meant was the pursuit of private happiness. Jefferson

firmly believed that private happiness comes from being a good citizen, rather than the pursuit of

ever-evolving desires for material wealth; he also believed that maximizing private happiness

does not contradict maximizing public (collective) happiness.

Regardless of what Jefferson meant originally, the famous phrase in the Declaration of

Independence did give license to Americans to pursue private happiness (often via the

accumulation of material wealth) and pushed the concept of happiness from the religious into the

secular arena. The view of happiness as attainable via accumulation of wealth was particularly

seductive to new immigrants, many of whom had been deprived of the opportunity to pursue

wealth in their home countries and viewed the U.S. as the land of opportunity. The number of

immigrants exploded from the 1880s into the 1900s. The rapid industrialization and economic

growth in the 1880s and 1890s all might have accelerated the gradual shift in the meaning of

happiness from something external (e.g., luck and fortune) to something personal and attainable

in the U.S. The economic growth reached the new height in the 1920s. The “roaring twenties”

saw great urbanization, a surge in stock market (until the great crash of 1929), the beginning of

the mass production of automobiles, the new “human-interest” trend in advertisements (appeal to

emotion rather than the presentation of the facts about the product), and the emergence of

consumer culture (O’Sullivan & Keuchel, 1989). Many historians call the 1920s the beginning of

modernity in the U.S. (Slater, 1997) due to the emergence of mass culture. By the 1920s in the

U.S the negative religious and moral connotations of happiness seem to have disappeared. In

addition, the pairing of the active noun of “pursuit” and happiness brought happiness within

one’s reach and control, which was a sharp contrast to the ancient Greek’s fragile, external view

of happiness.

Concepts of Happiness 9

Alongside these temporal shifts in concepts of happiness, it is useful to consider how

“happiness” is used differentially across nations, cultures, and world areas (Lu, 2001; Uchida &

Kitayama, 2009). Because collectivism is typically associated with the external sense of control

(Triandis, 1995), collectivistic nations might be more likely to develop the luck-based concepts

of happiness than individualistic ones. In addition to culture, socio-ecological factors such as

climate and pathogen prevalence may also play a role in how happiness is conceived and used

(Oishi & Graham, 2010). For instance, luck-based happiness might have been developed in harsh

than in mild climates, as people had less control in life in harsh than mild climate (Malthus,

1809). Pathogen prevalence indicates the degree of infectious deceases in the environment, and

has been shown to be associated with cultural factors such as individualism/collectivism (Fincher,

Thornhill, Murray, & Schaller, 2008). Thus, to the extent that pathogen prevalence signals that

one’s life is contingent upon external factors, it might be associated with the emergence of luckbased

happiness. Finally, poor economic conditions might indicate the precarious nature of life,

which might in turn be associated with the luck-based concepts of happiness.

The Present Research: Quantitative Analysis of Happiness

The historical and philosophical analyses summarized above reveal a striking shift in the

concepts of happiness from Ancient China and Greece to the contemporary U.S. Although rich in

detail, the historical and philosophical analyses also have some limitations. First, the difference

between Ancient China/Greece and contemporary U.S. could be due to linguistic differences and

translation problems. The Greek term eudaimonia, for instance, might simply be inherently

different from the English term happiness. To this end, linguist Anna Wierzbicka’s (2004) essay

on this issue is highly informative. Citing Polish poems and memoirs of Polish immigrants to the

U.S among others, Wierzbicka highlights that the English term “happy” is used much more

Concepts of Happiness 10

liberally than its equivalents in Polish, Russian, or other European languages. She notes that

“progress in cross-cultural investigations of happiness and subjective well-being requires a

greater linguistic and cross-cultural sophistication than that evident in much of the existing

literature on the subject” (p. 43). Second, the historical analysis above focuses on American

concepts of happiness. The American concept of happiness as something within one’s reach

might be an exception; the rest of the world today might still hold a concept of happiness similar

to that of ancient China and Greece.

We conducted the current research to address these limitations in the existing literature.

First, we collected contemporary dictionary definitions of happiness from 30 nations to examine

concepts of happiness in diverse languages and nations. This provides valuable information

regarding whether the definition of happiness as luck and good fortune is specific to ancient

China and Greece. Second, we analyzed English dictionary definitions of “happiness” over time,

to see whether the definition changed. Third, we analyzed State of the Union addresses by all

American presidents (from George Washington to Barack Obama) to test whether the use of the

terms “happiness” and “happy” changed over time. Finally, we used the Google Ngram Viewer

to test whether the use of “happy” to refer to an inner feeling of individuals (i.e., “happy person”)

increased over time, whereas the use of “happy” to refer to the favorable condition of the

collective (i.e., “happy nation”) decreased in books published between 1800 and 2008. Taken

together the four types of analyses below help to locate roughly when changes in the meaning of

happiness took place, and identify the factors that might be important in the changing

conceptualization of happiness over time.

Study 1: Dictionary Definitions of Happiness from 30 Nations

Concepts of Happiness 11

We obtained 30 dictionary definitions of happiness to examine how happiness is

conceptualized in various cultures (see Method for details). Based on Lu’s (2001) analysis, we

predicted that East Asian definitions of happiness would center on luck and good fortune.

Considering the historical influence of Chinese on Korean and Japanese culture, it is likely that

Korean and Japanese happiness concepts center on the notion of luck and good fortune as well.

Whereas East Asian concepts of happiness have been extensively explored (e.g.,

Kitayama & Markus, 2000; Oishi, 2006; Tsai, 2007; Uchida & Kitayama, 2009), the concepts of

happiness in other societies have not received as much research attention. One exception is

Pflug’s (2009) research. In spontaneous responses to “What is happiness to you?” several

German participants mentioned “surprising events,” whereas few South Africans did. This

suggests that the German concept of happiness contains an element of luck and fortune.

Wierzbicka (2004) also observed that German, French, Polish, and Russian equivalents of

“happiness” and “happy” evoke a rare state, compared to English terms. This also suggests that

many rare conditions need to be met (thus one must be lucky) for someone to be happy in

German, French, Polish, and Russian cultural contexts.

Previous cultural and cross-cultural research has found that various cross-societal

differences are associated with individualism-collectivism (Triandis, 1995), the wealth of nations

(Oishi, 2012), the historical prevalence of pathogens (Fincher et al., 2008), and the distance from

the equator (Pennebaker, Rime, & Blankenship, 1996). In addition, the number of foreign-born

immigrants might be associated with the notion of happiness, as immigrants tend to bring a

strong motivation to actively pursue happiness. Finally, the notion of happiness might be

associated with the mean levels of happiness. Therefore, we tested whether the national mean

levels of happiness would be associated with the degree to which happiness is conceived as luck

Concepts of Happiness 12

or fortune. It is predicted that in nations where happiness is conceived as luck or fortune (i.e., a

rare condition), people might not report being happy as much as in other nations.

Method

We sent an inquiry to our collaborators in various nations, requesting the definition of

happiness in their own language. We explicitly asked our collaborators to pick the term(s) that

best corresponds to the English term happiness in their local languages. We also asked them to

obtain the most authoritative dictionary in their nation and provide the original definitions as

well as English translations (we asked them to translate the original definitions to English, so that

our English-speaking RAs could code them). Using this method, we were able to obtain the

definitions of happiness from 30 nations: Argentina (Spanish), Australia (English), Brazil

(Portuguese), China (Chinese), Ecuador (Spanish), Estonia (Estonian), France (French),

Germany (German), Guatemala (Spanish), India (Hindi), Indonesia (Indonesian), Israel

(Hebrew), Italy (Italian), Japan (Japanese), Kenya (Swahili), Korea (Korean), Malaysia (Malay),

Mozambique (Portuguese), Norway (Norwegian), Pakistan (Punjabi), Portugal (Portuguese),

Romania (Romanian), Russia (Russian), Senegal (French), Singapore (Chinese), South Africa

(Afrikaans), Spain (Spanish), Turkey (Turkish), and the U.S (English).

In dictionaries, definitions for each term are typically specified in order from the primary

definition (i.e., the first definition provided for this term), the secondary definition, and so forth.

Two research assistants were trained to code the English translation of happiness from 30 nations

in terms of the presence or absence or the theme associated with luck and fortune on the 4-point

scale (0 = not at all present; 1 = present, but peripheral definition; 2 = present, secondary

definition; 3 = present, primary definition). That is, 3 was given if the primary definition of

happiness was luck and/or good fortune (including the theme of luck and good fortunate such as

Concepts of Happiness 13

favorable life circumstances), whereas 2 was given if the secondary definition of happiness was

luck and/or good fortune. If luck and/or good fortune was the tertiary or lower definition, then 1

was given. If luck or good fortune did not appear in the definition, 0 was given. For instance,

Norwegian term for happiness is “lykke”; the definitions for this word were “1. Destiny,

coincident. 2. a) Fortunate destiny, luck. b) Luckily, it turned out well, being successful. c) Wish

you luck. d) Congratulatory. 3. Good living conditions. 4. Deep and lasting feeling of enjoyment

and well-being.” Two coders, independently, read and rated these definitions on the 4-point

scale specified above. When there are multiple words (e.g., China), we took the mean of the

ratings for each word before further taking the mean of the two raters. In the following analyses,

we used the mean of the two coders’ ratings, as the two raters were very similar in terms of

correlation (r = .80, p < .01) as well as the mean ratings, M = 1.53, SD = 1.13 vs. M = 1.58, SD =

1.19, t (29) = -.37, p = .71).

In order to make sure that the choice of happiness terms chosen by our collaborators was

not arbitrary, we sought to get the independent opinion from another set of collaborators. We

were able to obtain the second opinion from 17 nations. We asked these secondary collaborators

the same question that we asked to the original collaborators: “What is (are) the term(s) for

happiness in your language?” (the original collaborators and the secondary collaborators are

listed in the acknowledgement). Out of the 28 non-English nations, we were able to get the

nomination from 17 nations: Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Korea,

Malaysia, Mozambique, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Senegal, Singapore, Spain, and Turkey. The

terms nominated by the original collaborators were the same as the terms nominated by the

independent collaborators, with the exception of Brazil (“alegria” and “alegre” were nominated

by the original collaborator, whereas “felicidate” was nominated by the secondary collaborators;

Concepts of Happiness 14

two coders rated all three terms; we took the average of their ratings for Brazil). Although we

were unable to obtain the independent nomination from Argentina, Ecuador, and Guatemala, we

were able to obtain it from Spain. In addition, we asked the secondary collaborators to translate

the definitions provided by the original collaborators. The English translations were again very

similar to the ones provided by the original collaborators. Thus, we were able to be fairly

confident in the representativeness of the terms and English translations that we analyzed below.

In terms of socio-economic variables, we used the following sources: individualismcollectivism

(Hofstede, 2001), GDP per capita (International Monetary Fund, 2007), historical

pathogen prevalence (Murray & Schaller, 2010), and the proportion of foreign-born immigrants

(United Nation Population Report, 2005). The national mean levels of happiness were calculated

based on the 2008 Gallup Global Polls, which surveyed 29 out of the 30 nations we included in

this study.

Results and Discussion

Because the historical analyses presented in the introduction (e.g., McMahon, 2006)

revealed that luck and fortune were the central aspects of the definition of happiness, we

expected that most definitions of happiness would include luck or fortune. As predicted, out of

the 30 nations, luck or fortune was at least partially present in 24 nations’ definition of happiness

(80%). Luck or fortune was completely absent from definitions only in the U.S., Spain,

Argentina, Ecuador, India, and Kenya (see Table 1). The one-sample binominal sign test

indicates that the chance of observing 24 or more definitions with luck or fortune in 30 nations

was .0014 (i.e., far less than 1% chance of obtaining this result by chance). Thus, happiness as

luck or fortune is still present in many parts of the world today. It is also interesting to note the

divergence even within the same language. For instance, Australian English possesses a luck and

Concepts of Happiness 15

fortune definition, whereas American English does not. Likewise, the Guatemalan definition of

happiness includes luck and fortune, whereas Spanish, Argentine, and Ecuadorian definitions of

happiness do not. The dictionary definition of happiness thus seems to reflect not only linguistic

heritage but local history and culture.

We next explored whether the degree of luck or fortune in the definition of happiness

would be associated with various economic, cultural, climatic, and demographic dimensions. The

degree to which luck or fortune was evident in the definitions of happiness was not associated

with GDP per capita (IMF, 2007), r (28) = .126, p = .509. It was also not associated with

individualism (Hofstede, 2000), r (23) = .124, p = .555, historical pathogen prevalence (Murray

& Schaller, 2010), r (28) = -.287, p = .125, or the number of foreign-born immigrants, r (28) = -

.073, p = .702. It was, however, associated with the distance from the equator, r (28) = .362, p

= .049. That is, the nations farther away from the equator were more likely to have luck- or

fortune-based definitions of happiness than the nations closer to the equator. This could be due to

the fact that the distance from the equator is associated with harshness of the climate. Where

obtaining foods and shelter had been challenging, luck and fortune might have become a central

part of what happiness is continued to be conceptualized as in those areas.

As predicted, the people living in the nations where happiness is not based on luck or

fortune reported having experienced happiness more than those living in the nations where

happiness is defined as luck or fortune, r (27) = -.405, p = .029. In the nations where happiness is

defined by luck or fortune, happiness might refer to an exceptional condition (Wierzbicka, 2004),

and that might be a reason why these nations reported happiness less frequently than others.

Study 2: Historical Changes in American Definitions of Happiness & the State of the

Union Addresses

Concepts of Happiness 16

Study 1 reveals that happiness as luck or fortune is fairly wide-spread even today.

We also found variations in the definition of happiness within the same language (e.g., Australia

vs. the U.S; Guatemala vs. Spain). This suggests the influence of local culture and history in

conceptualizations of happiness. While the current definitions of American happiness do not

include luck or fortune, the older definitions may have included them. If that is the case, it is

important to identify when such a change occurred. As a first step, we examined historical

changes in the definition of happiness in American English, analyzing various editions of

Webster’s Unabridged English dictionary (see Cohen, 2003; Wolff, Medin, & Pankratz, 1999 for

similar dictionary analyses).

We obtained all the editions of Webster’s Unabridged English Dictionary available at the

University of Virginia’s library. The earliest edition available was the 1850 edition (see Table 2).

As can be seen in Table 2, the early definitions of happiness all included the concepts of luck,

fortune, or fate. However, there was an interesting shift in the 1961 edition of Webster’s

dictionary, in which the definition of happiness as “good fortune” was deemed archaic. The

prominence of the good fortune definition indicates that the original concept of happiness in

American English was very similar to the German, French, Russian, and Japanese ones. Over

time, however, the Jeffersonian concept of happiness as something one can pursue took over.

This change was first reflected in the 1961 edition of Webster’s dictionary.

Considering that changes in dictionary definitions typically occur slowly, it is likely that

the use of happiness to convey luck fell out of common usage well before 1961. To this end, we

analyzed the State of the Union address provided by American presidents since George

Washington’s first State of the Union address in 1790. The State of the Union provides an ideal

material for this purpose because it is one of the very few standardized forms of speech across

Concepts of Happiness 17

time. Although the precise purpose of the speech changed over time (e.g., earlier reports included

some budgetary reporting), the State of the Union is the speech in which presidents summarize

what they have accomplished in the previous year(s) and what they would like to accomplish in

the upcoming year(s).

Method

We downloaded all the State of the Union addresses (1790 to 2010) from

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou.php. First we identified sentences in which the term “happy”

or “happiness” were used. Then, two independent coders blind to hypotheses analyzed each entry

in terms of the degree to which the use of happy/happiness was referring to good luck and

fortune on a 5-point scale (-2 = not at all to +2 = very much). Because one rater gave a

significantly higher ratings on average than the other, t(500) = 3.06, p = .001, we decided to

count the number of times each rater rated the use of happy or happiness as clearly lucky or

fortunate, namely +1 or +2 in the original 5-point scale. This reduced the discrepancy between

the two raters’ mean ratings substantially, t(500) = .55, p = .58. We then computed the mean

number of times each President used the term happy or happiness as “lucky” or “fortunate” (r

= .92, p < .01). For the analyses below, we took the mean of these two ratings. The basic findings

hold when we used the mean of the original 5-point scale as well.

Results and Discussion

First, earlier presidents were more likely to use the term happy or happiness than recent

presidents; the year of the State of the Union speech was negatively associated with the number

of times happy/happiness was used, r(222) = -.47, p < .001. This was the case when we

controlled for the total words in the State of the Union addresses, partial r(216) = -.49, p < .001.

George Washington, for instance, used happy/happiness 2.25 times per speech. The ninth

Concepts of Happiness 18

president, John Tyler, used it 8.75 times per speech. In contrast, Presidents George H. Bush and

Bill Clinton used it .5 times per speech, and Present George W. Bush used it only .38 times per

speech. It is possible that the terms happiness and happy were used more formally when referring

to fortunate conditions of the nation in the 18th century, and thus were more suitable for a formal

speech such as the State of the Union. For instance, in the first State of the Union address in

1790, President George Washington stated “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of

public happiness” while promoting the importance of science and literature. The Historian Eric

Peterson (2005) also noted that Thomas Jefferson used the term happy and happiness in

conjunction with prosperity of the collective, be that family or nation (“happiness of the man and

that of his family”). In contrast, the terms happiness and happy are used much more frequently

and informally referring to one’s positive feeling state in contemporary usage. For example,

President George W. Bush stated in 2003: “Seniors happy with the current Medicare system

should be able to keep their coverage just the way it is.” Ironically, the historical shift in the

concepts of happiness from the prosperity of the collective to an individual’s feeling state might

have made these terms less suitable for a formal speech, such as the State of the Union. We also

examined whether the frequency in which the terms happy and happiness were used was

different depending on the president’s political ideology (coded by conservative vs. liberal).

There were no differences by ideology, Mconservative = 2.22 (SD = 2.45) vs. Mliberal = 1.85 (SD =

2.20), t(222) = 1.20, p = .232.

Most important, we found that earlier presidents were more likely to use “happy” and

“happiness” to mean good luck, fortune, and prosperity than were more recent presidents, r(223)

= -.37, p < .001

(see Figure 1). This association was virtually unchanged when we controlled for

the number of words in the State of the Union addresses, partial r(216) = -.38, p < .001. For

Concepts of Happiness 19

instance, President James Madison stated in 1812, “Such is the happy condition of our country,

arising from the facility of subsistence and the high wages for every species of occupation.”

Similarly, in 1824, President James Monroe declared, “From the view above presented it is

manifest that the situation of the United States is in the highest degree prosperous and happy.” In

1833, President Jackson began his State of the Union address by stating that, “On your

assembling to perform the high trusts which the people of the United States have confided to you,

of legislating for their common welfare, it gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon the happy

condition of our beloved country.” President Ronald Reagan is the only president over the last 30

years to use the term happy in a clearly old-fashioned way when he used happy along with

prosperous to mean a favorable, fortunate condition of the collective: “I would like to talk with

you this evening about what we can do together---not as Republicans and Democrats, but as

Americans---to make tomorrow’s America happy and prosperous at home, strong and respected

abroad, and at peace in the world.”

Considering that conservatives favor more collectivistic values than do liberals (Haidt &

Graham, 2007), one might expect conservative Presidents to have used the luck-fortune

definition of happiness more often than liberal Presidents. However, political ideology did not

affect the degree to which presidents used happy and happiness as fortune, Mconservative = 1.63 (SD

= 1.91) vs. Mliberal = 1.24 (SD = 1.81), t(222) = 1.51, p = .13. A multiple regression analysis also

revealed that earlier presidents were more likely to use happy/happiness as fortune than were

more recent ones, controlling for the political ideology of the presidents, B = -.011, SE = .002, β

= -.38, t(221) = -6.11, p < .01. Thus, we conceptually replicated the findings from the analyses of

Webster’s unabridged dictionaries. In addition, Figure 1 shows the analysis of these speeches

that allow us to more precisely estimate when this use of happiness fell out of use. The steep

Concepts of Happiness 20

drop-off between Wilson and Harding suggests that after World War I (from 1920 on), happiness

was only rarely used to convey fortune or good luck. As shown in the analyses of Webster’s

unabridged dictionaries, this usage was deemed archaic 40 years later.

As discussed above, the view of happiness as attainable via accumulation of wealth was

particularly seductive to new immigrants, many of whom were deprived of the opportunity to

pursue their wealth and viewed the U.S. as the land of opportunity. It is possible, then, that as the

number of immigrants increased in the U.S., the view of happiness as controllable also might

have increased, and the view of happiness as lucky or fortune might have decreased. Indeed, the

number of legal immigrants (obtained from

http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/immigration.shtm) was negatively associated with the

frequency in which Presidents used happiness as lucky or fortune, r(189) = -.26, p < .0012

. The

number of legal immigrants is also correlated with the U.S. population (obtained from

http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/hiscendata.html), r(117) = .44, p < .001.

When we predicted the frequency in which Presidents used luck-based happiness from the

number of legal immigrants and the U.S. population simultaneously, however, an increase in the

number of immigrants was positively associated with the frequency of luck-based happiness, B

= .0000007, SE = .000, β = .18, t(116) = 2.03, p = .045, whereas the U.S. population was

negatively associated with the frequency of luck-based happiness, B = -.00000001, SE = .000, β

= -.60, t(116) = -6.88, p < .001. Likewise, as the number of legal immigrants was positively

associated with loglinear-transformed real GDP per capita (obtained from

www.measuringworth.com), r(189) = .56, p < .001, we conducted a multiple regression

predicting the frequency of luck-based happiness from the number of legal immigrants and the

loglinear-transformed GDP per capita. This analysis also showed that Presidents used luck-based

Concepts of Happiness 21

happiness less when log-transformed GDP per capita was larger, B = -1.05, SE = .14, β = -.55,

t(188) = -7.35, p < .001. Controlling for GDP per capita, the number of immigrants did not

predict the frequency of luck-based happiness uttered in the State of the Union addresses, B

= .0000003, SE = .000, β = .05, t(188) = .74, p = .46. Thus, the increase in immigrants did not

uniquely explain why the use of happiness as lucky-fortune decreased over time in the U.S.

Next, year (1790-2010) is highly correlated with the total U.S. population, r(117) = .98, p

< .001, and loglinear-transformed real GDP per capita, r(219) = .99, p < .001. Thus, we also

examined the correlation between U.S. population, loglinear-transformed real GDP per capita,

and the frequency of fortune-based happiness uttered in the State of the Union addresses. The

State of the Union addresses included more fortune-based happiness use in years of lower GDP

per capita than in the year of higher GDP per capita, r(221) = -.40, p < .001. Similarly, the U.S.

population was negatively associated with the frequency in which fortune-based happiness

appeared in the State of the Union, r(117) = -.52, p < .001. A multiple regression analysis,

predicting the number of fortune-based happiness used from loglinear-transformed GDP per

capita and the total U.S. population showed that GDP per capita was marginally negatively

associated with the number of luck-based happiness uses, B = -1.18, SE = .68, β = -.68, t(116) = -

1.75, p = .08, whereas the U.S. population was unrelated, B = .000000003, SE = .000, β = .14,

t(116) = .37, p = .71. Because GDP per capita and the U.S. population are also highly correlated

(r = .98, p < .001), this multiple regression analysis is likely to suffer from multicolinearity. Thus

the interpretation of the above multiple regression analysis requires some caution. However, our

findings might be best interpreted as follows: as the U.S. has become richer over time, fortunebased

happiness has become less frequently used in State of the Union addresses. As indicated in

the historical dictionary analyses, this might reflect that the definition of happiness as good

Concepts of Happiness 22

fortune has become archaic. The reason why this definition became archaic might be that as the

U.S. has become richer, people’s perception of personal control in life has also increased, and

made the fortune-based definition of happiness look obsolete.

Study 3: Happy Nation vs. Happy Person: Google Books 1800-2008

The State of the Union Addresses revealed a steep drop-off in the use of happiness as

good luck and fortune around 1920. The content analyses of the State of the Union Addresses

showed that earlier presidents were far more likely to use the terms happy and happiness to

describe fortunate conditions of the nation as a whole (e.g., “the happy condition of our beloved

country” by Andrew Jackson, 1833), whereas more recent Presidents use the term happy to refer

to an inner feeling of individuals (“Seniors happy with the Medicare” by George W. Bush 2003).

Although the conceptual distinction between internal feelings and external conditions made in

Studies 1 and 2 is different from the conceptual distinction between private and collective

happiness, Study 2 showed that the use of happiness as fortune/luck took place often in reference

to the collective and the use of happiness as internal feelings took place in reference to

individuals. Thus, in Study 3 we examined the historical changes in the frequency in which the

terms “happy nation” and “happy person” were used in books published in English.

One main limitation of Study 2 was that the State of the Union addresses are political in

nature, and therefore their generalizability beyond politics and politicians might be of question.

The main goal of Study 3, then, was to investigate the historical changes in the use of the terms

“happy nation” and “happy person” in all the books published in the U.S. since 1800. We chose

to analyze the period between 1800 and 2008 for two reasons: (1) to be comparable to the State

of the Union analyses, which covered from 1790 to 2010; and (2) the number of books published

before 1800 is small, which makes it hard to obtain reliable information before 1800.

Concepts of Happiness 23

Method

We used Google Ngram Viewer, which provides the frequencies of words in books

digitized by Google (Michel, Shen, Aiden, et al., 2011). This allowed us to examine whether the

frequency of the phrases “happy nation” and “happy person” changed between 1800 and 2008 in

the books covered by the American English corpus in Google’s Ngram database (see Twenge,

Campbell, & Gentile, 2012 for an exemplary use of Google Ngram Viewer). GDP per capita and

the number of immigrants used in this study are exactly the same as those used in Study 2.

Results and Discussion

As can be seen in Figure 2, the frequency in which the term “happy nation” is used in

books published in each year has declined over time, whereas the frequency of the term “happy

person” increased gradually over time. The correlation between year and phrase frequency was

positive and significant for the phrase “happy person”, r(207) = .68, p < .001. In a regression

equation predicting phrase frequency from year, “happy person” had an unstandardized

coefficient of 3.70E-8 (SEb = 2.74E-9), t(207) = 13.50, p < .001. In contrast, the correlation

between year and phrase frequency was negative and significant for “happy nation”, r(207) = -

.74, p < .001. In a regression equation predicting phrase frequency from year, “happy nation” had

an unstandardized coefficient of -6.74E-8 (SEb = 4.26E-9), t(207) = -15.81, p < .001. It is

interesting to note that the Google Book search showed the convergent evidence that 1920 was a

turning point, where the use of “happy person” (happy referring to a person’s chronic feeling)

dominated the use of “happy nation” (happy referring to a nation’s fortunate condition). Pre-

1920, “happy nation” appeared in American books on average 2.82 times as frequently as “happy

person.” In contrast, after 1920, the ratio falls to 0.18, with “happy person” appearing more than

5 times often than “happy nation.”

Concepts of Happiness 24

We next tested whether the frequency in which “happy nation” and “happy person”

appeared in books was associated with GDP per capita and # of immigration. “Happy nation”

appeared in books more in years when GDP per capita was low (r [207] = -.503, p < .001), and

when the number of legal immigrants was smaller (r [187] = -.462, p < .001). In contrast, “happy

person” appeared in books more when GDP per capita was high (r [207] = .822, p < .001) and

the number of legal immigrants was high (r [187] = .493, p < .001). A multiple regression

analysis that predicted “happy nation” from loglinear GDP per capita and the number of legal

immigrants showed that “happy nation” appeared in books less in years with high GDP per

capita, controlling for the number of immigrants, B = -2.577E-006, SE = .000, β = -.677, t(186) =

-11.36, p < .001, whereas the number of immigrants no longer predicted “happy nations,” B = -

1.052E-012, SE = .000, β = -.093, t(186) = -1.56, p = .121. Likewise, a multiple regression

analysis that predicted “happy person” from loglinear GDP per capita and the number of legal

immigrants showed that “happy person” appeared more in books in years with high GDP per

capita, controlling for the number of legal immigrants, B = 2.47E-006, SE = .000, β = .793,

t(186) = 16.16, p < .001, whereas the number of legal immigrants no longer predicted the

frequency in which “happy person” appeared in books, above and beyond GDP per capita, B =

5.61E-013, SE = .00, β = .06, t(186) = 1.23, p = .219.

Replicating the State of the Union analyses in Study 2, then, our Google Ngram analyses

showed that as the U.S. has become richer over time, happiness in reference to nation has

become less frequently used in books, whereas happiness in reference to person has become

more frequent. Also, replicating Study 2, we found that 1920 was the turning point in the

dominance of happiness as inner feelings over happiness as collective conditions.

General Discussion

Concepts of Happiness 25

Historians, philosophers, and linguists have documented historical and linguistic

variations in the concepts of happiness across time and cultures (e.g., McMahon, 2006;

Nussbaum, 1986/2001; Wierzbicka, 2004). The concepts of happiness centered on favorable,

external circumstances in Ancient China and Greece, whereas they center on positive inner

feeling states in the U.S. today (McMahon, 2006; Oishi, 2012). Happiness in American English

today covers a wide range of positive feeling states, whereas happiness in Polish, Russian,

German, and French is used to refer to a rare event or condition (Wierzbicka, 2004). For instance,

in American English, it is perfectly fine to say “I’ll be quite happy to do it.” When this sentence

is translated into French, French term for happy, heureux, is not used, but instead other weaker

terms such as “glad” or “doesn’t bother me to” are used: “Je le ferai volontiers./Ça ne me

derange pas de le faire” (Wierzbicka, 2004, p. 34). These qualitative analyses suggest that the

concepts of happiness vary across cultures and historical times. To our knowledge, however,

there have not been any systematic quantitative analyses of the concepts of happiness across

diverse languages or in-depth analyses of the historical changes in the concepts of happiness in

the U.S. We initiated the current project to provide the first systematic test of cultural and

historical variations in the concepts of happiness.

The analyses presented above detail variations in the concepts of happiness across time

and across cultures. The cross-cultural dictionary analysis revealed that the use of happiness to

convey fortune, fate or luck was present in 80% of a sample of current international dictionary

definitions, so this use is not relegated to ancient China and Greece. The analyses of the State of

Union addresses and Google Books Ngram Viewer locate when in American English this usage

fell into disuse, in the early 20th century around the 1920s.

What Happened in the 1920s in the U.S?

Concepts of Happiness 26

So, what happened in the 1920s in the U.S? A lot. Before the crash of the stock market in

1929, the stock market was surging. The highest Dow-Jones Industrial Average was 120.5 in

1924 and soared to 300 in 1928 (O’Sullivan & Keuchel, 1989). Ford’s Highland Park plant was

producing 1,000 cars a day, and the mass production of automobile started in the late 1910s,

which helped reduce the price of cars, which in turn resulted in higher rates of car-ownership.

Indeed, in 1927 more than half of American families owned cars (Berger, 2001).

Many historians consider the 1920s the beginning of modernity in the U.S, the first

decade of affluence, urbanization, and consumer culture (Ewen, 1976). Historians John

O’Sullivan and Edward Keuchel state, “The year 1920 marked a significant moment in that

process. The census of that year indicated that, for the first time, the majority of Americans now

lived in urban areas…farm production constituted only one-sixth of the gross domestic product”

(p. 157). Likewise, Sociologist Don Slater (1997) states “From the 1920s, the world was to be

modernized partly through consumption; consumer culture itself was dominated by the idea that

everyday life could and should be modern…This is the age of real estate, consumer credit and

cars; modern appliances, bought by modern methods, placed in a modern household” (p. 12-13).

Magazine circulations also soared in the 1920s. The number of monthly periodicals grew from

3,415 in 1920 to 4,110 in 1930 (Kotchemidova, 2005), again corroborating the rise of mass

media and advertisement in the 1920s. Historian Roland Marchand (1985) also documents the

rise of new “human-interest” approach to advertisement between the 1910s and the 1920s, which

tried to appeal to customers’ emotions (e.g., “The skin you love to touch” for a soap) rather than

the announcement of descriptive product data. Equally important, smile and cheerfulness, which

are overt signs of the inner feeling of happiness, have become increasingly prevalent in

advertisement. According to the media study scholar Christina Kotchemidova (2005), “in the

Concepts of Happiness 27

1920s, advertisers began to entice consumers by portraying the pleasure of using a product” (p.

18). These changes in everyday life appear to indicate that Americans’ concern shifted toward

the satisfaction of one’s desires and self-expression in the 1920s. It is no doubt an overstatement.

The historical change is often slow and gradual. Thus, these changes must have been taking

place slowly since the late 19th century, the era of progressivism. Yet, the sudden emergence in

mass production, the transformation in transportation (automobile), and advertisement in the

1910s-1920s fit the story depicted by our current analyses that the use of the collective, oldfashioned

definition of happiness was replaced by the modern use of individualistic, feelingcentric

definition of happiness.

Future Directions

Far from just a historical (or cross-cultural) side note, the use of happiness as fortune or

luck carries important implications for the scientific study of happiness. First, the cross-cultural

differences show that the meanings of the term may differ, and so asking about “happiness” (and

its equivalents) in different cultures may be asking about different concepts. That is, Germans,

Russians, Japanese, Norwegians, and many others might be thinking about how lucky they have

been lately when they answer the question regarding how happy they have been lately, whereas

Americans, Spanish, Argentine, Ecuadorians, Indians, and Kenyans are not. These different

connotations of the “happiness” question could bias the results (Wierzbicka, 2004). This concern

can be alleviated if the same patterns of cross-cultural differences emerged when life satisfaction

or other related questions were examined. However, the patterns of cross-cultural differences are

often different, depending on specific well-being items used in the surveys. For instance, Diener,

Kahneman, Tov, and Arora (2010) recently found that GDP per capita was far more strongly

associated with life satisfaction than the happiness of nations. The divergent patterns of cross-

Concepts of Happiness 28

cultural results found in previous research could be in part due to different connotations of the

term happiness. It is important to examine the degree to which different connotations of the term

happiness contribute to differential patterns of results. For example, researchers might want to

include how lucky and fortunate respondents feel currently, in addition to the happiness and life

satisfaction items. By partialling out the role of luck and fortune, researchers can see if the

wealth of nations is indeed less strongly associated with happiness (or once the linguistic

connotations are statistically controlled, the wealth of nations is as strongly associated with

happiness as with life satisfaction).

Further, the cross-cultural dictionary analysis showed a relation between luck usage and

subjective reports of happiness, suggesting that how participants are conceiving of happiness

may affect other aspects of how it functions in their lives. For instance, in cultures where

happiness is conceived to be attainable, happiness might be the conscious goal. Consequently,

various important decisions might be made based on anticipated happiness. For instance, many

Americans make various important decisions such as where to retire or where to live based on

the heuristics of “Would I be happy if I did X?” (Schkade & Kahneman, 1998). In contrast, in

cultures where happiness is conceived as luck and fortune, happiness might not be the conscious

goal. Thus, various decisions might not be made to maximize happiness. Indeed, East Asians do

not seem to make decisions to maximize happiness, as they tend to work on tasks they do not

enjoy or do not do well (Falk, Dunn, & Norenzayan, 2010; Oishi & Diener, 2003). The current

results suggest Germans, French, Norwegians, Russians (where happiness means luck or good

fortune) might not use the “happiness heuristics” to make important life decisions as frequently

as Americans do. It is important to examine whether cultural differences in the “happiness

heuristics” could be explained by the connotative differences of the term happiness.

Concepts of Happiness 29

Recently, researchers have revealed some negative consequences of pursuing happiness

(e.g., Gruber, Mauss, & Tamir, 2011). So far, most research on the negative consequences of

happiness came from the U.S. It would be interesting to examine whether the dark side of

happiness is more prevalent in the nations with the agentic concept of happiness than the fortune

concept of happiness.

Third, all three studies point to the fluidity of happiness concepts, suggesting possible

future drifts in uses of the term happiness. To this end, it is noteworthy that Mogilner, Kamvar,

and Aaker (2011) found that young Americans tend to use the term “happiness” along with

“excitement”, whereas older Americans do not. Older Americans’ use of happiness co-occurred

more frequently with peaceful feelings. Previous developmental research found that older adults

tend to be happier than younger adults (Siedlecki, Tucker-Drob, Oishi, & Salthouse, 2008). This

could be in part due to the connotational differences in the concepts of happiness between the

young and old. It is critical to examine how developmental shifts in the meaning of happiness

affect the levels and correlates of happiness.

Fourth, the cross-cultural analyses above also point to the possibility of religious

differences in the meaning of happiness. As pointed out by Cohen (2009) and Graham and Haidt

(2010), religious differences have received relatively little research attention in psychological

science. Subjective well-being is no exception in this regard. Recently, however, researchers

have started actively investigating the role of religion in subjective well-being. Kim-Prieto and

Diener (2009), for instance, found that Jewish Americans reporting more happiness than

Buddhist Americans. It is important to explore whether the meaning of happiness differs across

different religious traditions, and if so, how that might affect the levels and correlates of

happiness (see Tsai, 2007 for the initial evidence).

Concepts of Happiness 30

Conclusion

While ancient uses of happiness terms centered around good luck, fortune, or external

conditions in general, this use has fallen into disuse in modern-day American usage. The present

studies provide evidence that (1) much cultural variation exists in the concepts of happiness, with

many linguistic traditions still centering on fortune or luck; (2) this use was deemed “archaic” in

American English in 1961, and (3) use of happy/happiness to connote good luck or fortune

dropped off about 40 years prior to the “archaic” designation, around 1920. Variations in

conceptualizations of happiness across languages, cultures, and time have important implications

for research on happiness and subjective well-being. As happiness becomes a major policy goal

in nations ranging from the United Kingdom and France, to Japan and China, to Bhutan (Diener,

Lucas, Schimmack, & Helliwell, 2009), it is critical to document precisely what people mean by

“happiness” and how different conceptualizations could affect survey responses across nations

and time. Future research should further delineate the causes – and consequences – of such

changes in conceptualizations of happiness. Finally, it is our hope that a historical analysis of

dictionary definitions, formal speeches, and written materials (e.g., letters, blogs, tweets) will be

used more often and its benefit be recognized in psychological science in the near future.

Concepts of Happiness 31

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