The Way to Happiness
scientology front group
The Way to Happiness is a 1980 booklet written by science-fiction author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard listing 21 moral precepts. The booklet is distributed by The Way to Happiness Foundation International, a Scientology-related nonprofit organization founded in 1984.
The Way to Happiness is used as part of Scientology's Criminon rehabilitation program and is promoted by Scientology celebrities. The unsolicited distribution of personalised copies of the booklet to schools and mayors' offices has caused controversy, and while it is promoted as secular in nature, critics have stated that it includes ideas that are specific to Scientology, and is used as a recruiting tool. The booklet has been translated into 70 languages.
Foundation
The Way to Happiness Foundation International is a non-profit 501(c)(3), incorporated in 1984. Headquartered at 201 East Broadway, Glendale, California, the foundation coordinates the activities of the Way to Happiness international network, including continental and national offices, associates and local groups. The Way to Happiness Foundation International is a division of the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), and is a "Scientology-related entity" under the 1993 IRS Closing Agreement.
Booklet
The Way to Happiness booklet contains a set of 21 precepts, which were written by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. The precepts are:
The code is not limited to negative prohibition of actions that are bad, (stealing, killing, promiscuity, illegalities) but also the positive advisement of good actions ("care of oneself, temperateness, respect for parents, aid for children, truthfulness, safeguard of environment, etc.") It was first published in 1981 by Regent House, Los Angeles as a 48-page paper-covered booklet (ISBN 0-9605930-0-4).
“The Way to Happiness” enters the record as scientology front group. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Happiness, scientology and front can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2227947. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1980, 1984, 1993 and 1981.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Way to Happiness” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.