The Origins of Happiness

The Origins of Happiness

physical world. But we have now come, after all these cen-

turies, to where we can quantify the influences on our most

basic feelings— of enjoyment and of distress. From the

knowledge distilled in this book some overwhelming im-

pressions emerge.

• We have to move “beyond GDP,” and we can. The
  things that matter most for our happiness and for
  our misery are: our social relationships and our
  mental and physical health.


• So we need a much wider concept of deprivation
  than now prevails. You are deprived if you cannot
  enjoy your life. And the most common cause of
  deprivation is not poverty or unemployment but
  mental illness.


• We also need a new role for the state— not wealth
  creation but well- being creation. In past years the
  state successively took on poverty, unemployment,
  education, and physical health. But equally import-
  ant now are domestic violence, alcoholism, depres-
  sion and anxiety conditions, alienated youth, exam
  mania, and much else. These should become center
  stage.

Angela Merkel was right, and so was Thomas Jefferson.

What matters to people must be the guideline for our pol-

icy makers— and for all of us as human beings.