Way to Happiness: Fulton Sheen

Way to Happiness (1953) is a short collection of essays on moral and spiritual principles by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. As he writes in the introduction, his goal for this work was to bring "solace, healing and hope to hearts; truth and enlightenment to minds; goodness, strength and resolution to wills" through his exploration of universal topics like happiness, love, and inner peace.

Readers will find a simple message-although one that is a challenge to put into daily practice. "Our happiness consists in fulfilling the purpose of our being," writes Archbishop Sheen. That purpose is to overflow with three things: life, truth, and love with no limits, in their purest forms. Our humanity makes us long for these things. But to find them, "...we must go out beyond the limits of this shadowed world-to a Truth not mingled with its shadow, error-to a Life not mingled with its shadow, death-to a Love not mingled with its shadow, hate. We must seek for Pure Life, Pure Truth and Pure Love-and that is the definition of God."

The book is broken into eight sections, exploring themes of happiness, work, love, children, youth, inner peace, giving, and man. In each, Archbishop Sheen shares his warmth and wisdom, characterized by support from the scriptures and anecdotes from daily life.