The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

children in what he feels to be the right way. The
essentials of human happiness are simple, so
simple that sophisticated people cannot bring
themselves to admit what it is they really lack. The
women we spoke of earlier who look with envy on
every well-dressed woman are, one may be sure,
not happy in their instinctive life. Instinctive
happiness is rare in the English-speaking world,
especially among women. Civilisation in this
respect appears to have gone astray. If there is to
be less envy, means must be found for remedying
this state of affairs, and if no such means are found
our civilisation is in danger of going down to
destruction in an orgy of hatred,
In old days people only envied their neighbours,
because they knew little about anyone else. Now
through education and the Press they know much in
an abstract way about large classes of mankind of
whom no single individual is among their
acquaintance. Through the movies they think they
know how the rich live, through the newspapers
they know much of the wickedness of foreign