Values, Virtues, and Happiness

"Value is that which one acts to gain and keep, Virtue is the action by which one gains and keeps it.It is only the concept of Life that makes the concept of Value possible. Value presupposes a standard, a purpose, and the necessity of action in the face of an alternative. It is only to a human being that things can be good or evil. Only a human being can choose to either live or die." To think is an act of choice. Happiness is the successful state of life, pain is an agent of death. Happiness is the state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values. " (Ayn Rand - For the New Intellectual).