I no longer remember exactly when, But it was approximately in 1996 that I decided to “do something with Internet” It took me until April 1997 to get together the equipment, the connections and the supplies, but then bang, I saw photos of people far away appearing before my eyes, with immediacy of connection and of memory. Wow. For each question I had to do with actual things, ideas or sources of ideas, or how to do something, etc. etc. I could find the reply in a few minutes, and that's when I realised: One doesn't need to know how to reach one's goal before one has decided it - simply dream it and the answers to how you can succeed are on Internet – even if you wish to work towards an enlightened planetary civilisation…

How to propagate the Virus of Happiness?

In fact, it's quite simple !

  1. Answer this question; "What makes, or has made you, happy?" and become a Happiness Agent
  2. You earn some "Points Of Presence" (POP)
  3. You invest your Points in the city of your choice
  4. You spead the Virus of Happiness around the world.

What is the virus of happiness and how it works?

What is Happython?

And how does it work?

About Happython

Happython was founded in 1998 on this simple question: "What makes you, or has made you, happy?".
The answers of many people were printed and then exposed-pinned on clothes dryers called "Porte-Bonheurs".
These exhibitions took place in galleries, public places, post offices and finally on the web.
The idea of a Happening Record of happy moments has germinated: the Happython and the Happiness Virus have been created!
For more than 20 years, tens of thousands of people between the ages of 2 and 109 from all over the world have testified about what makes them happy.
Now it’s your turn!

What makes them or has made them happy?

What makes me happy is when there is music on the streets or in the metro. It gives me the impression that the quick steps of hurried people are in rhythm on the tempo, like an urban choreography !

Sandy , 19 years old, Toulouse (France)

What makes me happy is receiving a message that is proof of a pardon granted by a friend...maybe found again.

Thierry , 47 years old, Arradon (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is the generosity of people who support Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanoun. Finally solidarity doesn't end.

Lulu , 21 years old, Aubenas (France)

The idea of free time makes me happy. Let me explain: life is such that we are always doing something, stressed, running around, always going faster... So, to programme some free time, time to do nothing, is an idea that gives me a real sense of happiness.

What makes me happy is reading happython every morning in class. That puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Laure , 20 years old, Lyon (France)

What makes me happy every day, it is to see black slaves'sons and daughters appointed to fairly important positions, in a country where there were schools for Whites and schools for Blacks, buses for Whites and buses for Blacks, just very few decades ago.

Alex , 43 years old, Paris (France)

What makes me happy is seeing that the head of a busy bar can stop working for two minutes because he saw a blind man trying desperately to walk across a crosswalk and help him cross arm in arm… that really make me happy to witness scenes like that ! Long live solidarity between people of all horizons !!

Greg , 20 years old, Nice (France)

What makes me happy is the existence of people on this earth who ask me what makes me happy.

Frédéric , 25 years old, Aubagne (France)

What makes me the most happy is the love of my future husband who, despite leukemia, helps me to overcome all in life.

Lucie , 33 years old, Deux-Montagnes (Canada)

I no longer remember exactly when, But it was approximately in 1996 that I decided to “do something with Internet” It took me until April 1997 to get together the equipment, the connections and the supplies, but then bang, I saw photos of people far away appearing before my eyes, with immediacy of connection and of memory. Wow. For each question I had to do with actual things, ideas or sources of ideas, or how to do something, etc. etc. I could find the reply in a few minutes, and that's when I realised: One doesn't need to know how to reach one's goal before one has decided it - simply dream it and the answers to how you can succeed are on Internet – even if you wish to work towards an enlightened planetary civilisation…

Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is seeing my best friend again after almost two years apart.

Samya , 17 years old, Mohammédia (Maroc)

Whenever I start to really like a person, I look at them straight in the eyes and I tell them that I love them (which is always true) : the glint that I see shine in their eyes, sometimes only for a fraction of a second, fills me with joy, and I am happy.

Louis , 47 years old, Lyon (France)
Exposition citatine

What made me happy, a waterfall.

Blanche , 32 years old, Repentigny (Canada)

What makes me happy is the sea. When I see it or when I think about it, I am really comfortable in my own being. Oh yes, it's boring but it's the ocean blue that makes me happy.

Mina , 30 years old, Tizi Ouzou (Algérie)

What makes me happy at this moment is that I have got rid of everything in Paris, my job and a hard life, to retire and live in Tunisia at a wonderful man's side.

Françoise , 52 years old, Rades (Tunisie)

For you I am not merely a thing, my happiness is you, Pilou.

Katie , 46 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)

What makes me happy is to eat braised fish with my fingers, in the shade of a tree, in the Ivory Coast, and to watch the sunrise on Buttes Chaumont Park.

Aline , 28 years old, Paris (France)

What made me happy ? After loving lots of men, I fell in love with a woman and for that wonderful love, I gave up men and my former way of life. But it is worth while, I love and I am loved, peaceful and completely happy, that great affection…

Gisella , 51 years old, Paris (France)

I'm happy when I'm part of the happiness of the people around me.

Soade , 40 years old, Casablanca (Maroc)

I am happy when I do well in my studies.

Merieme , 20 years old, Agadir (Maroc)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy, hmm... The first is waking up and seeing sunbeams... the second is payday... the third is my last day at work!

Chantal , 33 years old, Saint-Léonard (Canada)

What makes me happy is telling myself that I am going to see the man of my dreams on my right during my classes.

Clémentine , 18 years old, Gennevilliers (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is that everybody is fine.

Catherine , 18 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)

This is great !! The virus of happiness !! I'd like to give you my own definition of happiness... : “Happinees is like a butterfly. If you run after it, it will escape... But if you let it be, it will land softly on your shoulder...”

Louise , 42 years old, Chicoutimi (Canada)

What makes me happiest is the fact that a child can be born from me and that one day I'll have little toes in my belly...

Claire , 22 years old, Montréal (Canada)

What makes me happy is finding the right temperature of water in the shower right away… I hate cold showers…

Julien , 19 years old, Rennes (France)

To take the time to eat in a fine restaurant in Marseille and to savour the different meals…

It's my children that make me happy : my son Samuel, who is 1, and my daughter Mélissa-Jade, who is 14, they are the most precious things I have on Earth.

Guylaine , 38 years old, Montréal (Canada)

Nothing makes me happier than to create something with my own hands, to prepare some tempting meal that we can all share together later, or to sew cushions myself. There is a magic in creating, making, concocting something with ones own hands. It is a proof that our hands are just an extension of our thoughts.

It's to seat down at Cais Do Sodré and look at my country.

Ana , 22 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)
Exposition citatine

Financial independance gives me a peace of heart and a certain serenity and the fact of being loved comforts me. Loving a man and receiving love makes me forget my worries and brings me pleasure.

What made me happy was to spend my birthday evening with my son and his girlfriend, and tomorrow it will be the same with my sister and her husband. Hurray for the family!

Josette , 52 years old, Saint-Nicolas (Belgique)
Exposition citatine

One evening placed on his lower back, I thought about his little round body and I realized how happy I was to be a Daddy.

François , 25 years old, Paris (France)

feel like the Tibetan climbing the sacred mountain ! Happiness is not the end of the path, but happiness is the very path.

Brigitte , 49 years old, Nivelles (Belgique)

What makes me happy is seeing middle aged couples still walking together hand in hand.

Andrée , 56 years old, Sevran (France)

What makes me happy is to read every morning the Happython when I'm in class. It puts me in a good mood for all the day.

What makes me happy is knowing that laughing works your abs!

Maud , 20 years old, Paris (France)

What makes me happy is to take out all my toys.

Maëva , 4 years old, Mons-en-Baroeul (France)

The day I passed my driving license I was really happy because I had always thought I was useless

What makes me happy!!! Well, I'm only 17 years old, so my happiness is far from complete, but I'll say that what makes me happy is seeing people smile.

Mary , 17 years old, Terrebonne (Canada)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is listening to Metallica while petting a kitten.

Pauline , 20 years old, Toulouse (France)

After going on holidays alone, I come back home and I find my dog. It makes me happy.

Myriam , 19 years old, Longjumeau (France)
Exposition citatine

Wednesday afternoon, I visit my grand mother at the old folks home. Our walk in the park brings us closer. Seeing her smile and her joy makes me happy.

What makes me happy is to stop and enjoy a few quiet moments in my very busy life, so I can think of the distance covered, trials, moments of joy, and then I think that life is great!

43 years old, Waremme (Belgique)

For me, it's the sea that makes me happy!!! When I see it or just even think about it I feel good deep inside. It might be quite trivial but the blue ocean makes me happy.

Mina , 30 years old, Tizi Ouzou (Algérie)

What makes me happy is spending time with my friends, going out with them, sharing my deepest thoughts with them and feeling their trust.

Fabrice , 18 years old, Marseille (France)

Yesterday evening, out to see the lights of Lyon, I found myself in the park of la Tête d'Or, on a path with lights and sounds so surreal…and relaxing ! A real moment of happiness after a day of hard work.

Muriel , 44 years old, Lyon (France)

What makes me happy is to have come study french, start to understand it and eat Korean meals.

Chang-Hun , 23 years old, Bastia (France)

What makes me happy is going to the Happython site every day, reading the testimonies of people filled with happiness ready to break up the sadness, to put my little foot on the wall, too. That puts sunshine in my eyes for the rest of the day.

Céline , 18 years old, Toulouse (France)

My happiness is complete when I let the metro pass to keep kissing my love on the latform...telling myself that I'll take it maybe the next day or the day after that.

Sandra , 28 years old, Paris (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is a warm day with the wind and the blue sky of spring… A day like today.

Lorenzo , 23 years old, Milan (Italie)

I found a job after a long laborious search and that made me happy.

Mariem , 23 years old, Agadir (Maroc)
Exposition citatine

Someone who is able to listen to you, to have a discussion with you. Also to be able to open your heart to someone who knows about human qualities.

Fathi , 45 years old, Sfax (Tunisie)

What makes me happy is to have been able to get a good education « educazione » !

Daniela , 32 years old, Ancône (Italie)

My fall in the bus this afternoon because a good-looking boy gave me a smile and helped me to get up

What makes me happy is falling in lovein the metro every morning ! Stranger from line 6, if you recognize yourself…

Julia , 18 years old, Paris (France)

What made me happy Tuesday was seeing my cashier at the supermarket.

Claude , 35 years old, Rosny-sous-Bois (France)

The purest moment of happiness was my fiance's return to France after eight months spent in prison, in Turkey... All that because he had taken some papers! For now, it's my most beautiful moment.

Amélie , 27 years old, Herouville-Saint-Clair (France)

What makes me happy is doing little things every day and realizing that those are what bring lots of happiness.

Hélène , 42 years old, Gracefield (Canada)

When I left alone to experience giving up everything, I had the impression that I was happy.

Mihran , 33 years old, Rosny-sous-Bois (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is making up with a colleague ! ( a little daily pleasure)

Christian , 44 years old, Paris (France)

The thing that makes me happiest is someone's love and people's respect and the world smiling at me.

Stéphanie , 21 years old, Québec (Canada)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is feeling so small in front of a stormy ocean, smelling the spray on my face : I simply feel content, and I realize the futility of all my little everyday worries.

Marcelle , 62 years old, Québec (Canada)

What makes me happy is being a great-great grandfather.

Jean , 97 years old, Barcelone (Espagne)

Happiness is when I see my mother again, for whom I'll always be the same kid (even if I'm not this kid anymore) and to see her face lighting up and smiling.

Mehdi , 27 years old, Tunis (Tunisie)

What makes me happy is seeing that the head of a busy bar can stop working for two minutes because he saw a blind man trying desperately to walk across a crosswalk and help him cross arm in arm… that really make me happy to witness scenes like that ! Long live solidarity between people of all horizons !!

Greg , 20 years old, Nice (France)

I am happy because I found my P50 motorcycle that I had lost.

Paula , 29 years old, Ouagadougou (Burkina-Faso)

What makes me happy is to be back on the education road.

Daniela , 32 years old, Ancône (Italie)

To see my rabbit smiles thanks to the web cam on the net (!).

Smelling the scent of my children makes me happy.

Mireille , 45 years old, Madrid (Espagne)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is the idea that people would learn to love each other, without any feeling of racism. The world is everybody's…

Hilm-Lamiae , 35 years old, Fès (Maroc)

I have just come out of a coma. Here it is : happiness is to be alive again.

Laura , 38 years old, Lille (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is seeing my best friend again after almost two years apart.

Samya , 17 years old, Mohammédia (Maroc)

Giving birth to my two children made me happy.

Joëlle , 44 years old, Liège (Belgique)

What made me happy was having found my Papa who I haven't seen for twenty-five years.

Patrice , 40 years old, Paris (France)