Chapter I: Front Matter

THE CONQUEST OF HAPPINESS

_Other Books by the same Author_

PHILOSOPHY

THE ANALYSIS OF MIND
INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICAL PHILOSOPHY
OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD
AN OUTLINE OF PHILOSOPHY
SCEPTICAL ESSAYS

SOCIAL SCIENCE

PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION
ROADS TO FREEDOM
JUSTICE IN WAR-TIME
FREE THOUGHT AND OFFICIAL PROPAGANDA
MARRIAGE AND MORALS

EDUCATIONAL

ON EDUCATION: ESPECIALLY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

THE PROBLEM OF CHINA

WITH DORA RUSSELL:
THE PROSPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION

WITH SCOTT NEARING:
BOLSHEVISM AND THE WEST

BERTRAND RUSSELL

THE CONQUEST
OF
HAPPINESS

LONDON
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD
MUSEUM STREET

FIRST PUBLISHED OCTOBER 1930
SECOND IMPRESSION NOVEMBER 1930
THIRD IMPRESSION DECEMBER 1930

_All rights reserved_
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
UNWIN BROTHERS LTD., WOKING

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and
self-contained,
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of
owning things,
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands
of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
WALT WHITMAN

PREFACE

This book is not addressed to the learned, or to those who regard a practical problem merely as something to be talked about. No profound philosophy or deep erudition will be found in the following pages. I have aimed only at putting together some remarks which are inspired by what I hope is common sense. All that I claim for the recipes offered to the reader is that they are such as are confirmed by my own experience and observation, and that they have increased my own happiness whenever I have acted in accordance with them. On this ground I venture to hope that some among those multitudes of men and women who suffer unhappiness without enjoying it, may find their situation diagnosed and a method of escape suggested. It is in the belief that many people who are unhappy could become happy by well-directed effort that I have written this book.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE