first we have to come to some kind of consensus about what is happy. It's not easy to define or all agree on what happiness means.<p>I work at Oracle and one of the things that took me by surprise when I joined (besides that the coffee in startups is usually much better) was how happy people are. People walk around in small groups laughing and smiling, taking about their projects. I can't talk for everyone, but coming from startups for a long while where happiness is confused with being idle (you're smiling, stop that and code) I am pleasantly surprised at the environment.<p>I want role models that advance ideas, rather than caring too much about how happy they are. Their ideas are the public side of their persona, the part that interests me, their personal mental well being I leave to them. Was Picasso happy? (Maybe when he had Brigitte Bardot in his studio) - but he still took the art world by storm with pieces like Demoiselles d’Avignon. Was Salk happy, maybe, but a lot of kids born around 1955. I really don't care about rich or famous, but give me role models that do something meaningful.