Life and the Pursuit of Happiness

What does it take to have life?  It is one of the basic "rights" our founding fathers claimed everyone should possess.

What did they mean by "the pursuit of happiness"?  What truths can we learn--from history, from others, from our own lives--about what makes a meaningful life?  How can we effectively "pursue happiness"?

The following are some quotes and resources that you can use to explore this concept on your own, teach to others, or add to as you come across other things.  They are in no particular order of importance to me.  I included them here, rather than on the resource blog, for clarification of this concept.

"When we accept duties willingly and faithfully, we find happiness.  Those who make happiness the chief objective of life are bound to fail, for happiness is a by-product rather than an end in itself.  Happiness comes form doing one's duty and knowing that his life is in harmony wiith God an His commandments..."  (Joseph B. Wirthlin)

Books:
"Charlie's Monument"
"Carry On, Mr. Bowditch"
"The Secret Garden"
"The Door in the Wall"

Movies:
"The Ultimate Gift"

Scriptures and poems may be found on the "Poem" list post.

Children's books (one of my favorite teaching mediums):
"The Sugar Child" by Monique De.Varennes- an incredible book about a girl made of sugar (kind of like the idea of the gingerbread man) and her parents, knowing that any kind of bad weather or crying will make her sugar melt, protects her from the weather and from grief.  However, it turns out that it is by crying for the sickness of a friend, that the girl find out that her tears do indeed melt the sugar away and transform her into a real girl.  A powerful parable about how a meaningful life and one full of happiness is not found in protecting us from sorrow or pain, but from experiencing the good and the sad... "A time to weep, a time to mourn..." Eccles. 3:1-8 

Article by Marlin K Jensen: http://www.lds.org/new-era/1999/08/how-to-be-happy?lang=eng