FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is The Way to Happiness Foundation International?
Based near Los Angeles, California, The Way to Happiness Foundation International is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation that assists the activities of individuals and groups around the world who use The Way to Happiness book and materials. The Way to Happiness Foundation International was founded in 1984 and publishes The Way to Happiness in 114 languages.
Through the Foundation's work, educators, legislators, corporate executives and dignitaries learn to implement The Way to Happiness in their own respective spheres. Accordingly, those adopting the booklet in the name of harmony and better living now include organizations as diverse as the National Honduras Police, the security-general of the Philippine Red Cross and the Congress of Racial Equality.
What is the purpose of The Way to Happiness Foundation International?
The purpose of The Way to Happiness Foundation International and its network is to create a safer society, accomplished through distribution of The Way to Happiness.
Through its twenty-one precepts, The Way to Happiness sets a standard of conduct for the citizens of the world. This agreement then creates a civilization, a place where individuals and groups and countries are able to get along with each other without violence and wars.
A continual stream of books out into the society is the primary function of all The Way to Happiness activities. Distribution of the book makes a safer, more stable individual and thereby family, group, neighborhood, city, state, nation and world.
Tens of thousands of people worldwide are part of the international network that has distributed some 100 million books.
How is The Way to Happiness Foundation funded?
The Foundation prints and sells copies of The Way to Happiness and related videos and publications. All funds received for books and other materials go toward the production of more materials and the distribution of The Way to Happiness across the globe. Funding also comes from the contributions of private individuals and organizations that support the aims of the Foundation in restoring morality, trust and decency through wide distribution of the book.
In exchange for a fee, the Foundation also issues licenses for individuals or corporations to reprint the booklet in their own country with their own designed cover.
What is The Way To Happiness book?
The Way to Happiness is a simple, straightforward and direct guide to good choices. It helps individuals make positive decisions or choices, and those decisions and choices have an effect on everyone.
The principles found in The Way to Happiness are grounded in common sense and written for application. This book is a truly practical and modern guide that anyone can use to confidently steer his or her way to a happier, more successful life.
Providing a moral compass to anyone of any race, color or creed, it successfully bridges cultural, religious and language barriers. And wherever the book is widely distributed, it brings about a safer, less violent environment based on these common sense principles and values.
To date, upwards of 100 million copies have been published and circulated in 114 languages and over 170 countries.
What subjects are addressed in The Way to Happiness?
Each chapter includes an in-depth essay that is easy to read and understand. It teaches in a way that makes sense and can give a person the values and understanding needed to make intelligent, correct decisions in life.
Who is the author of the book, and why did he write it?
The Way to Happiness book was written by L. Ron Hubbard.
The 1970s marked a period of rapid and widespread moral decline in the West. The position of religion in society became increasingly restricted while moral and ethical standards were broadly challenged on many fronts. As just one example, in 1980 the United States Supreme Court ruled that a public school in Kentucky could not post the Ten Commandments, since to do so would violate the separation of Church and State mandated by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Commenting on this and other developments of the time, Mr. Hubbard wrote, "When religion is not influential in a society or has ceased to be, the state inherits the entire burden of public morality, crime and intolerance. It then must use punishment and police. Yet this is unsuccessful as morality, integrity and self-respect not already inherent in the individual, cannot be enforced with any great success."
Seeing the collapse of moral standards and the reduction in influence of the institutions which historically had advanced those standards, Mr. Hubbard wrote a wholly secular, common sense moral code: The Way to Happiness. Since its initial publication, the book has been used by individuals of many races and religious backgrounds as a logical guide to help themselves, their families and associates. Employing the twenty-one fundamental precepts contained therein, children and adults thus develop moral standards based on their own reasoning and understanding of why and how those standards promote a happier life.
Find out more about L. Ron Hubbard.
Is The Way to Happiness a religious book?
The Way to Happiness is not a religious book and The Way to Happiness Foundation International is a secular organization.
The Way to Happiness may be the first nonreligious moral code based wholly on common sense. It was written by L. Ron Hubbard as an individual work and is not part of any religious doctrine. Any reprinting or individual distribution of it does not infer connection with or sponsorship of any religious organization. It is therefore admissible for government departments and employees to distribute, as a nonreligious activity.
Many different religious groups have used The Way to Happiness book, as its simple but powerful messages are compatible with and complementary to most religions of the world.
Because The Way to Happiness is not religious, it is also suitable for any individual, public or private group to use to improve conditions in life.
Can The Way to Happiness book be used in public schools?
Yes. In fact, educators were among the first to recognize the value of the book to instill character and improve the attitudes of students. The Way to Happiness book has been distributed and used in over 12,000 schools, public and private, across America. More than 12 million children have participated in the “Set a Good Example Contest,” inspired by and based on a precept from the book.
In a study conducted on teachers, 90 percent of those surveyed rated the presentation of moral values in The Way to Happiness book as “good” or “excellent.” Also, amongst teachers implementing The Way to Happiness programs, 85 percent noticed a positive change in their students’ understanding of moral values.
Outside the US, schools in places as diverse as Hungary, Lebanon, Pakistan, Israel, Colombia, Venezuela, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Cambodia, Ghana and South Africa have utilized The Way to Happiness.
Who uses or endorses the book as part of their educational or social betterment programs?
The Way to Happiness and its programs have been used by a wide variety of youth and community groups, schools and educational organizations, prisons and probation offices, drug rehabilitation centers, governments, hotels and other businesses, as well as concerned individuals.
The national “Set a Good Example Contest” has been recognized and commended by Members of Congress, senators and governors representing forty US states and by former US Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
In addition to the United States, it has also been adopted and implemented by government agencies in South Africa, Venezuela, Mexico, Honduras, Panama, Nigeria, Indonesia, the Philippines, Israel, the Republic of Guyana and many others.
To read some of the many successes of individuals and groups using the book, visit our Programs & Results section.
Yes. The Foundation grants reprint authority to organizations, individuals, schools and government agencies for a nominal licensing fee. Copies may also be ordered directly from the Foundation, which operates its own on-demand printing facility. It is fully equipped to meet requests for customized editions of the book in any quantity.
For a free information kit, including a copy of The Way to Happiness and a DVD introducing The Way to Happiness program, click here.