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

soured by ingratitude, since he will seldom suffer
it and will not notice when he does. The same
idiosyncrasies which would get on another man’s
nerves to the point of exasperation will be to him a
source of gentle amusement. He will achieve
without effort results which another man, after long
struggles, will find to be unattainable. Being happy
in himself, he will be a pleasant companion, and
this in turn will increase his happiness. But all this
must be genuine; it must not spring from an idea of
self-sacrifice inspired by a sense of duty. A sense
of duty is useful in work, but offensive in personal
relations. People wish to be liked, not to be
endured with patient resignation. To like many
people spontaneously and without effort is perhaps
the greatest of all sources of personal happiness.
I spoke also in the last paragraph of what I call a
friendly interest in things. This phrase may perhaps
seem forced; it may be said that it is impossible to
feel friendly to things. Nevertheless, there is
something analogous to friendliness in the kind of
interest that a geologist takes in rocks, or an