As China rises from poverty, its people, too, will seek more material comforts.

UN: Secretary-General

Yet this is not to deny his main point: the pursuit of material comforts does not always lead to happiness.

ECONOMIST: Why don't rising incomes make everybody happier?

But it was not until the second half of the 20th century, when material comforts ceased to satisfy and the wheels of human life seemed stuck in fast-forward for ever, that the search began in earnest for a simple way to make existence bearable.

ECONOMIST: Leo Sternbach