A discussion on dishonorable behavior among candidates for public office led, via neuroses about what constitutes moral behavior, to discussion of the Puritans (and a remembered quote about the Puritans living their lives constantly haunted by the gnawing fear that someone, somewhere might be having a good time), and thence to the following observation:
Assuming for the moment a belief in a god or gods which I do not in practice hold, I would not go so far as to say that happiness (rather than cleanliness as in the proverb) is next to godliness; but I would most definitely say that one cannot begin to approach godliness without first achieving happiness. (And by happiness, I do not mean merely the smug faux-moral satisfaction of seeing your own self-chosen misery imposed upon others.)