"A meaningful life must, in some sense then, feel worthwhile. The person living the life must be engaged by it. A life of commitment to causes that are generally defined as worthy — like feeding and clothing the poor or ministering to the ill — but that do not move the person participating in them will lack meaningfulness in this sense. However, for a life to be meaningful, it must also be worthwhile. Engagement in a life of tiddlywinks does not rise to the level of a meaningful life, no matter how gripped one might be by the game." This is what underlies the difference between the happiest jobs and the most hated jobs.

“富有意義的生活必須在一定意義上讓人感到值得。過這種生活的人必須全身心投入其中。如果一個人的生活奉獻給了普遍被認為有價值的事業，比方說給貧苦人提供衣食或照顧病患，但是這并不能驅使這個人參與到其中，那么在這一意義上，生活就失去了意義。然而，要富有意義的人生必須也是值得擁有的。充斥著挑圓片游戲的人生并沒有上升到有意義的人生的高度，不管一個人因這個游戲可能會變得多么有影響力。”這就是最幸福的工作與最令人厭惡的工作的根本區別。

1. Clergy

Clergy: The least worldly are reported to be the happiest of all.

神職人員：最不世俗的工作據說是最幸福的工作。

2. Firefighter

Firefighters: 80 per cent of firefighters are "very satisfied" with their jobs, which involve helping people.

消防員：80%的消防員對自己的工作“非常滿意”，這份工作是在給予人們幫助。

3. Physical therapist

Physical therapists: Social interaction and helping people apparently make this job one of the happiest

理療師：社會互動和幫助他人明顯使得這份工作是最幸福的工作之一。

4. Author

Authors: For most authors, the pay is ridiculously low or non-existent, but the autonomy of writing down the contents of your own mind apparently leads to happiness.

對于大多數作家來說，他們的報酬少得可憐，或者根本沒有，但是寫下自己心中所想的自由顯然會帶來幸福。

5. Special education teacher

Special education teachers: If you don’t care about money, a job as special education teacher might be a happy profession.

特殊教育老師：如果你不在乎金錢，特殊教育老師這個工作或許是個幸福的職業。這份工作每年的平均薪水僅在5萬美元以下。

6. Teacher

Teachers: Teachers in general report being happy with their jobs, despite the current issues with education funding and classroom conditions. The profession continues to attract young idealists, although 50 per cent of new teachers are gone within five years.

教師：盡管當前存在著教育經費和教室條件的問題，一般來說教師們還是感到自己的工作很幸福的。這一職業繼續吸引著年輕的理想主義者，盡管在五年以內有50%的新教師已經轉行了。

7. Artist

Sculptors and painters report high job satisfaction, despite the great difficulty in making a living from it.

藝術家：雕刻家和畫家據稱是工作滿意度最高的職業，盡管在這一職業上謀生有著相當大的困難。

8. Psychologist

Psychologists: Psychologists may or may not be able to solve other people’s problems, but it seems that they have managed to solve their own.

心理學家：心理學家可能會也可能不會解決其他人的問題，但是似乎他們能夠解決自己的問題。

9. Financial services sales agent

Financial services sales agents: 65 per cent of financial services sales agents are reported to be happy with their jobs. That could be because some of them are clearing more than $90,000 dollars a year on average for a 40-hour work week in a comfortable office environment.

金融理財銷售代理：據報道80%的金融理財銷售代理認為自己的工作很幸福。這大概是因為他們中的一些人在舒服的辦公環境中工作，每周工作40個小時，平均每年掙9萬多美元。

10. Operating engineer

Operating engineers: Playing with giant toys like bulldozers, front-end loaders, backhoes, scrapers, motor graders, shovels, derricks, large pumps, and air compressors can be fun. With more jobs for operating engineers than qualified applicants, operating engineers report being happy.

施工工程師：擺弄那些大型玩具可能是很有趣的，比如推土機、前載車、反向鏟、刮運機、平地機、鏟車、起重機、大型水泵以及空氣壓縮機。施工工程師的工作供大于求，這使得他們很幸福。