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The elusive concept of happiness

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Book cover Sex, Money, Happiness, and Death

Part of the book series: INSEAD Business Press series ((IBP))

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Abstract

The French philosopher Jean de la Bruyère once said, “For man there are only three important events: birth, life, and death; but he is unaware of being born, he suffers when he dies, and he forgets to live.” Obviously, de la Bruyère had a well-developed predisposition toward unhappiness. He didn’t “enjoy the interval.” My objective here, unlike his, is to concentrate on the interval in an effort to better understand what happiness is all about.

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© 2009 Manfred Kets de Vries

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De Vries, M.K. (2009). The elusive concept of happiness. In: Sex, Money, Happiness, and Death. INSEAD Business Press series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-230-24036-0_13

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