Money CAN Buy You Happiness If...

You Spend It On Other People

What is the secret of happiness? Religion has explored this question for millennia. So have philosophy and literature. Science recently entered the picture. Since the 1990s, the field of positive psychology has focused on individual well-being and satisfaction. What do happy people share in common? What qualities do they display? Does one quality matter more than others? Pondering these questions, I’ve seen a pattern emerge: The discoveries of positive psychology point to the qualities that Jewish wisdom associates with a righteous person. In other words, the qualities that make for righteousness also make for happiness. What are they?

Rabbi Evan Moffic writes the Beliefnet blog Truths You Can Use.