One theme is that nothing beautiful comes without suffering. We would not know the good if we had not also experienced the bad. Joy does not protect us from hardship. But we can face suffering in a way that ennobles rather than embitters us.

A second theme is that there are practices one should do daily that can help us cope and find happiness in a world of suffering. For the Dalai Lama, that is meditation. For the Archbishop, it is mindful prayer—not rote or empty prayer, but conscious, willed, and sometimes slow prayer.

A third theme is found in the Eight Pillars the authors list: perspective, humility, humor, acceptance, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity. Tying them all together is the argument that developing a happier world starts with developing a happier you on the inside and, from there, spreading that happiness to the people immediately around you. It is a variation on an older but no less true saying, one by Gandhi—"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

An interesting side note the authors bring up is that there are scientific studies that now back up what very old religious traditions have to say about personal happiness.