The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus declared that what makes life worth living is experiencing pleasure.

Today, this hedonistic conception of the good life is dominant in Western culture and is often taken to mean enjoying recreational pleasures such as good food, good wine, skiing, scuba diving, etc.

According to Aristotle, happiness is something we value not as a means to some other end but for its own sake. It has intrinsic value rather than instrumental value.

The good life is one in which a person cultivates and exercises their rational faculties by engaging in scientific inquiry, philosophical discussion, artistic creation, or legislation.

• Recent research shows that people who have children are not necessarily happier than people who don't have children.
• During the child-raising years, and especially when children have turned into teenagers, parents typically have lower levels of happiness and higher levels of stress.
• Even though having children may not make people happier, it does seem to give them the sense that their lives are more meaningful.
• For many people, the well-being of their family, especially their children and grandchildren, is the main source of meaning in life.

• A truly good life is one that is both enviable and admirable in all or most of the ways outlined above.
• Sometimes a person can appear to live a fine life and be able to check all the boxes-virtue, prosperity, friendship, respect, meaning, etc., yet eventually be revealed as something other than what we thought they were.