In philosophy and (western) religion, happiness may be defined in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion.  Aristotle stated that contentment is the only thing that humans desire for its own sake, unlike riches, honour, health or friendship.

Happiness is a fuzzy concept. Some related concepts include well-being, quality of life, flourishing, and contentment

In psychology, happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being which can be defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.

Happy mental states may reflect judgements by a person about their overall well-being.

Happiness has been defined by different religions in different ways, see the bride description below.

Buddhism– Happiness forms a central theme of Buddhist teachings. For ultimate freedom from suffering, the Noble Eightfold Path leads its practitioner to Nirvana, a state of everlasting peace. Ultimate happiness is only achieved by overcoming craving in all forms.

Hinduism– In Advaita Vedanta, the ultimate goal of life is happiness, in the sense that duality between Atman and Brahman is transcended and one realizes oneself to be the Self in all.

Confucianism– The Chinese Confucian thinker Mencius was convinced that the mind played a mediating role between the “lesser self” (the physiological self) and the “greater self” (the moral self), and that getting the priorities right between these two would lead to sage-hood. 

Judaism- Happiness in Judaism is considered an important element in the service of God. A popular teaching is to always be in a state of happiness. When a person is happy they are much more capable of serving God and going about their daily activities than when depressed or upset.

Roman Catholicism- In Catholicism, the ultimate end of human existence consists in felicity, Latin equivalent to the Greek eudaimonia, or “blessed happiness”. All men agree in desiring the last end, which is happiness. However, happiness cannot be reached solely through reasoning about consequences of acts, but also requires a pursuit of good causes for acts, such as habits according to virtue.

Islam- Al-Ghazali, the Muslim Sufi thinker, wrote,  Sa’? da (contentment) is a central concept in Islamic philosophy used to describe the highest aim of human striving.Sa’? da is considered to be part of the “ultimate happiness”, namely that of the hereafter. Only when a human being has liberated his/her soul completely from its corporal existence, and arrives at what is called “active intellect”.