What makes me happy and what inspires me are usually two different things.
Seeing my wife and sons laugh and enjoy each other's company, a nice glass of wine, good food, beautiful music, doing my work well, relaxing with a good book, learning something new, scratching the dog or the cat, an email or letter from a friend, being here and on the other message board - these make me happy.
Great figures of history - even those with feet of clay - George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George H. Thomas, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Sojourner Truth, JFK, Harry Truman, Cal Rodgers, William Cushing, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Gandhi, Mandela - these inspire me.