The Five Thieves of Happiness [Paperback]

StopSeekingHappiness; Just Get Out of Its Way!

Happiness is our natural state, for each of us and for humanity as a whole, argues John Izzo. But that happiness is being stolen by insidious mental patterns that he depicts as thieves: the thief of control, the thief of conceit, the thief of coveting, the thief of consumption, and the thief of comfort. He discovered these thieves as he sought the true source of happiness during a year-long sabbatical, walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and living in the Andes of Peru. This thoughtful and inspiring book describes the disguises these thieves wear, the tools they use to break into our hearts, and how to lock them out once and for all. Izzo shows how these same thieves of personal happiness are destroying society as well. This book will help us all discover, develop, and defend the happiness that is our true nature while creating a world we all want to live in.Contents

Foreword viii

preface xii

chapter one happiness is our natural state 1

chapter two the first thief: control 11

chapter three the second thief: conceit 37

chapter four the third thief: coveting 61

chapter five the fourth thief: consumption 79

chapter six the fifth thief: comfort 93

chapter seven kicking the thieves out of your house 107

chapter eight imagining a world without thieves 115

notes 124

acknowledgments 128

index 130

about the author 139“Most of us are waiting for happiness to be given to us from the ‘outside.’ John shows us how to find it on the ‘inside.’ I hope this book helps you as much as it helped me.”
—Marshall Goldsmith, bestselling author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

“A powerful guide to becoming world-class happy.”
—Robin Sharma, #1 bestselling author of The Leader Who Had No Title and The MlÃf