People want the right to die at a time of their own choosing. Too many families have watched helplessly as a relative dies slowly, longing for death.

Thresholds of pain, indignity and incapacity are entirely personal.

The strongest predictor of unhappiness is anyone who has had a mental illness in the last 10 years. It is an even stronger predictor of unhappiness than poverty - which also ranks highly.

Is anyone serious about the politics of happiness? David Cameron dipped a toe in the water, using the word lightly, but denying the hard policies it implies. Labour shies away from it, but should take up the challenge.

The best care on earth cannot prevent us all dying in the end.

Inequality makes everyone unhappy, the poor most of all, and that is well within the remit of the state. More money gives less extra happiness the richer we get, yet we are addicted to earning and spending more every year.

How do you make any sense of history, art or literature without knowing the stories and iconography of your own culture and all the world's main religions?