Today's quote of the day comes from none other than Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804): "People sometimes attribute my success to my genius; all the genius I know anything about is hard work."  You may have heard of Hamilton , the smash Broadway musical his rags to riches story inspired. Or, you might know him as the guy on the $10 bill. Hamilton gave new meaning to the word "workhorse." As the first U.S. secretary of the treasury, he was essentially the architect of the American financial system. He wrote 51 of the 85 essays that comprise  The Federalist Papers . He pushed for the establishment of the first national bank. He wrote some 28 essays which were instrumental in securing the ratification of the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. He established the U.S. Coast Card and founded The New York Post, the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the U.S. And, to boot, he married into one of the wealthiest families in New York City, even though he neve...

In my view, there are four essential ingredients to a happy life, all of which begin with the letter "L." The 4 L's of happiness are: (1)  Laughing (2)  Loving (3)  Living  (4)  Learning Nothing puts us in a better mood -- and helps turn a frown upside down -- quite like a good laugh. Whether we're watching a comedy movie or being amused by a pet's zany antics, life just isn't as fun without a healthy dose of laughter. But most of us would agree that funny moments aren't as memorable unless we have others around to share them with -- the people we love. While friends and family don't complete us -- we do that ourselves -- they certainly give us a good reason to wake up every morning. They're there for us (many of them, at least) in good times and bad. As human beings, we all yearn to love and be loved.  The next one is fairly straightforward: we can't be happy unless we're living -- literally and figuratively. But some wou...