Ethics

Are we happier if we are good?

That has the look of a big question.

Those saffron robed Buddhist monks you see around the far east usually look pretty happy, it isn't all their stuff that does it for them, and you don't see many of them fighting outside the pub or getting indicted for insider dealing.

On the other hand I've seen some pretty miserable priests.

Lots of people live lives which, while not exactly drowning in virtue, go for years without doing much wrong past rushing the odd late amber light, and they are not all wearing the latest in ear to ear grin.

Good behaviour doesn't seem to be enough on its own to make you happy. But it is at least another obstacle out of the way because behaviour you know to be wrong is not conducive to a settled mind and a happy demeanour.

In Britain we often think that the Good Life refers to the attempt to run a smallholding in a suburban garden in Surbiton, under the nose of the snooty neighbours. but, as the Goods recognised, it is also about trying to do the right thing in the face of adversity. They were a happy pair too, weren't they?

Auntie isn't trying to be deliberately esoteric, but she is a big believer in the Golden Rule-look under Confucius.