The Map of Life Conduct and Character

"The Map of Life" by William Edward Hartpole Lecky considers the connections between how we act, who we are, and how happy we become. The book looks at questions about whether we truly have free choice, what’s right and wrong, and what it means to be human. Lecky writes that what happens to us and our natural tendencies affect happiness and that having a good moral character is important for a good life. He starts by looking at how thinking affects our happiness but suggests that thinking and reasoning don't always help and that our character and how we control ourselves control how happy we are, not just what happens to us.