On happiness....................

If famine, plague and war are disappearing, if humankind experiences unprecedented peace and prosperity, and if life expectancy increases dramatically, surely all that will make humans happy, right?
     Wrong.  When Epicurus defined happiness as the supreme good, he warned his disciples that it is hard work to be happy.  Material achievements alone will not satisfy us for long.  Indeed, the blind pursuit of money, fame and pleasure will only make us miserable.  Epicurus recommended, for example, to eat and drink in moderation, and to curb one's sexual appetites.  In the long run, a deep friendship will make us more content than a frenzied orgy.  Epicurus outlined an entire ethic of dos and dont's to guide people along the treacherous path to happiness.

-Yuval Noah Harari,  Homo Deus:  A Brief History of Tomorrow