Isn't it also true that life is often not happy, no matter what choices you make? "People are generally as happy as they make up their minds to be."
I happen to know a few long-single male losers, now in retirement (and living on disability)-- they are wrinkled-up little boys, looking for Mommy and Daddy, who've long since departed this world. They drive their neighbors crazy, have basically no personal resources to call upon when a little bit of trouble comes.
And, believe it or not, the happiest couples I know are successful folks looking forward to retirement together. They've paddled their boats over a lot of rocks, and have that to share with each other. I don't think they want to be the whiny, dependent little old bachelors I also am acquainted with...
Here's to being a wrinkled-up little boy! SALUD!
You've got it, Mamzelle. Most of the people I know, male or female, who reach middle age and are not married do not strike me as terribly happy, and I would say far less happy in general than those who are married.