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

drier countries: in the winter-time, at any rate, few
people are so lazy as to prefer idleness out of
doors to work in heated rooms. Resignation alone,
therefore, is not in the West one of the roads to
fortune.
To a very large percentage of men in Western
countries, more than a bare living is necessary to
happiness, since they desire the feeling of being
successful. In some occupations, such, for example
as scientific research, this feeling can be obtained
by men who do not earn a large income, but in the
majority of occupations income has become the
measure of success . At this point we touch upon a
matter in regard to which an element of resignation
is desirable in most cases, since in a competitive
world conspicuous success is possible only for a
minority.
Marriage is a matter in regard to which effort may
or may not be necessary, according to
circumstances. Where one sex is in the minority, as
men are in England and women are in Australia,