preface
A Tribute to Madame de Mauve-Lamborghin

Chapter 1 Passion - To you who is seething with anxiety and anger

When you are feeling emotional, relax and stay calm.
How to overcome depression with ease
Moods rise and fall like a boat on waves
The more you chew on sadness, the more it grows.
Grief is a function of the body, not the head.
Worry is a disease, and ignorance is bliss.
Look at the reasons behind the actions
Imagination causes symptoms
Don't repeat the tragedy in your imagination.
Little things create happiness and unhappiness.
Worry and anxiety cause illness
Just smiling makes my heart lighter
Neither underestimate joy nor exaggerate sorrow
First, try to soften your attitude.
Yawn to distract your thoughts
Don't focus on yourself, just look far ahead.

Chapter 2: Affirmation - Out of the Darkness and into the Light

Hope creates reasons to hope
Don't judge fate so easily.
Make the experience your own
If you're going, you're already right
An active being who creates the future
Believe in fate, not in desire.
Despair is an illusion, we are all lucky.
This fate is my choice
The pleasures given and the pleasures won
Misfortune may be less than you think.
If you look closely, every sight is beautiful.
Back to life
I have the strength to endure misfortune.
Actively choose optimism
This too shall pass
The future is as much as you believe in it.

Chapter 3: Execution - Only Action Creates Emotion and Change

If you just think about this and that and do nothing
Don't delve into your thoughts, move your body.
If you want to do something, do it.
Don't look up, climb the mountain
There is no boredom for those who concentrate.
Pleasure arises naturally with action.
Only my actions create happiness and freedom.
Be happy with your actions, but beware of their power.
A working farmer is better than a boring king.
Best work, worst work
Discipline and consciousness bring inner peace.
Useful labor is more enjoyable than rest.
Let go of hope and just get started
My biggest enemy is within me.

Chapter 4 Relationships - May our relationship be comfortable and free

Love also requires conscious effort.
Not too close, not too far
Think from other people's perspectives
Indifference is better than excessive worry.
Balancing Intimacy and Courtesy
How to Live as a Good Couple
Sadness is not beautiful
Express kindness with words and facial expressions.
How to Deal with Annoying Words
Cheerfulness is more beautiful than sadness
True courtesy is comfortable and natural.
Joy to Joy
Friendship between two poets
Love is good for your health, hate is bad for your health.
Kindness is the greatest gift
Don't wait for happiness, go find it.
Make others happy

Chapter 5 Happiness - To you who will definitely become happy

Happiness you create yourself never betrays you.
Don't worry about death
Don't be fooled by the appeal of passion.
Don't regret anything, focus on the present.
Don't be a fool who chews over pain.
How to Use Your Time to Enjoy Your Trip
Choose positivity over complaining
Optimism breeds growth
Happiness is peace itself
Understand reality as it is
The pain does not belong to me
Cheerful mood therapy
You will be happy by hoping for happiness.
Plato's Prescription for Happiness and Health
Happiness is a virtue
Joy and happiness are the most capable doctors.
How to be happy in everyday life
Happiness is a duty
Happiness is within me

“Is your happiness truly yours?”
Alain's insight into the "essence of happiness" 100 years ago

There is a saying, 'outsourcing happiness.'
It refers to the phenomenon of relying on and entrusting happiness to external factors or other people rather than finding it within oneself or trying to create it on one's own.
In today's world, where it seems as though 'what you see is everything', it is especially easy to look for the standard of happiness outside of ourselves.
The 'standard of happiness' that says you have to have as much as others, be as high in status as others, and be as cool and beautiful as others to be happy actually makes people move further away from happiness.
This is because I constantly feel pressured to meet society's standards for happiness rather than my own.
It seems like you're asking for help from others to make it easier to be happy, but ironically, the more you do that, the more you alienate yourself from happiness.

What will happen if this phenomenon continues? We don't need to look far; just look at ourselves and our surroundings to easily understand.
Because we see the results every day.
How many people are so caught up in blaming others for their misfortunes, and so lost in a state of emotional control that they allow external circumstances to sway their emotions?
Additionally, while we become accustomed to conditional happiness, thinking, "If only ~~ would make me happy," it is not uncommon for people to feel chronically unhappy when these external conditions are not met.
This is the reason why modern people suffer from so much stress, are crushed by mental hunger, and often suffer from depression and panic disorder.

To overcome the externalization of happiness and find true happiness, we must cultivate the ability to regulate our emotions regardless of external circumstances and become the 'subject' who creates our own happiness.
We must also live faithfully in the present moment without being bound by the conditions we must achieve in the future or by past experiences.
This solution cannot but be in perfect agreement with the theory of happiness that Alain preached 100 years ago.
Alain emphasized that happiness does not come from outside sources, but rather comes from subjective will and actions, and that we must create happiness ourselves.
It cannot be said that happiness is when everyone looks the same and moves in the same direction.
Alain brilliantly reconstructs his concept of happiness from the perspective of ordinary people, while also suggesting specific ways to practice happiness in everyday life.
As you read this book, you will reflect on the true meaning of happiness and gain practical wisdom and insights that you can apply to your life.


“If you are aware and act, you will be happy, but if you are lazy, you will soon fall into worry and regret.”
The key to happiness is small daily practices.

This book, which presents the essence of happiness and how to practice it in a concrete and clear way rather than in a vague way, begins by talking about 'passion.'
Passion refers to thoughts that arise from emotions and are difficult to suppress.
We've all probably had times when we were lying awake late at night, tormented by endless thoughts.
Alain describes this condition as 'a pain that does not exist anywhere in the world, but is vivid.'


Alain's views on passions are based on Descartes's The Passions.
Descartes believed that our body and emotions influence each other.
For example, our physical state can affect our emotions, and conversely, our emotions can affect our body.
Alain emphasizes that to become happy, we must correctly understand and control these passions, and this requires willpower, active effort, and, above all, practical action.
We often get anxious by imagining things that haven't even happened, or we worry about problems by looking for the cause in the wrong places.
When I think back on this experience, I can easily empathize with Alain's argument.

After dealing with passion in Chapter 1, the book talks about 'affirmation' in Chapter 2.
Despair is just an illusion in our minds, and we are told to actively choose optimism.
Chapter 3 deals with ‘execution’.
Breaking free from negative emotions and creating change is 'action', and this can be said to be the core of Alain's theory of happiness.
Rather than setting grand goals, he advises that happiness can be found through small daily practices, and encourages people to just 'get started and get moving.'
Chapter 4 deals with 'relationships', which are essential to happiness, and Chapter 5 concludes with the topic of 'happiness' in general.
As you follow the natural flow of the book, you will be able to figure out what 'my happiness' is and what first steps you should take to realize that happiness.

“Be kind, but strike a balance between intimacy and courtesy.”
Happiness that spreads from me to you and to society

Chapter 4, which deals with relationships, focuses on love, friendship, kindness, and courtesy.
It explains in detail how to behave between couples, friends, and close friends so that relationships can be enriched and filled with joy.
If you maintain natural manners that are ingrained in you, you can speak and act naturally without making others feel uneasy or hurting them.
Rather, joy and happiness are contagious.
The following description of the joy and happiness being transmitted from me to you will make you smile just by reading the contents of the book.

If my presence brings true joy to my friend, I also feel joy when I see my friend's joy.
So, each person receives back the joy they gave.
At the same time, the treasure called joy opens wide.
So both friends think like this.
'I became happy without any effort.'

Alain offers the insight that individual happiness leads to the happiness of society.
The reason social conflicts arise and wars break out is because there are unhappy individuals and individuals who cannot control their anger.
In a modern world where people are becoming isolated amidst extreme individualism and competition, Alain's theory of happiness suggests the value of communal happiness by reminding people of the importance of 'happiness for all' rather than 'happiness for myself alone.'


Alain's "A Very Old Theory of Happiness" goes beyond simple comfort or advice to offer deep insights into the essence of life.
It also presents concrete and practical methods to modern people who say they want to be happy but are vague about what happiness truly is and how to achieve it.
In a time when intangible happiness, standardized happiness, and conditional happiness are rampant, this book will help you discover the path to true happiness, transcending the anxieties, fears, and loneliness of life.