Sir Henry Wotton's 17th century poem "The Character of a Happy Life" advises men to turn away from the corrupt, fickle world and follow their conscience alone in order to live happily. The poem describes how truly happy men avoid getting caught up in gossip, politics and the opinions of others, instead practicing virtues like truth, humility and piety, which allow them to lead steady lives accountable only to themselves and God.

1. The Character of
a Happy Life
H. Wotton
"The Character of a Happy Life" is 17th-century
English poet Sir Henry Wotton's bracing advice
to men trying to make their way in a corrupt
world. The truly happy man, Wotton advises, is
he who turns away from the fickle, gossipy,
power-hungry world to follow his own
conscience. The poem was first printed after
Wotton's death in the 1672 collection Reliquiae
Wottonianae.
In “The Character of a Happy Life,” a speaker
describes what it takes for a person (and more
specifically, a man) to live well. For this speaker,
being happy means being independent,
accountable only to oneself and to God. Those
who get too invested in other people’s opinions
only end up squabbling for power and getting
hurt by the ups and downs of fortune. But those
who practice truthfulness, humility, piety, and
self-reliance earn a steady and “happy life.”