I was just going through some texts on Buddhism and came across this paragraph. It kind of answers so many queries. Just felt like putting it here :

"They connected suffering to the very impermanence of things. They observed how people lamented over the loss of a loved one, or experienced sorrow when something or someone that had once given them happiness became separated from them. They noted that even human pleasures were not immune from suffering because they didn't last forever, and the loss of pleasure inevitably left people feeling deprived. Seeing as how clinging to things (that were necessarily impermanent) was one of the primary causes of dukkha, they cautioned against excessive attachment. At the same time, they recognized a recurring and more general type of existential unease and anxiety (aniccha) that arises from the very transience of life, and our inability to control or comprehend all worldly phenomenon, which they characterized as viparinama-dukkha. "

As a formula (char-mulya) for addressing these different types of suffering, the Buddhists advocated a four-fold scheme of
a) recognizing the problem i.e. suffering (dukkha);
b) identifying the cause of the suffering - such as craving stemming from ignorance (samudaya) ;
c) establishing the goal of ending the problem (nirodha) - i.e. the cessation of suffering (nirvana);
d) conducting life in a manner that was consistent with the cessation of suffering - following the right path or engaging in the right practice (marga).

Followers were thus goaded into developing both a sense of personal ethics and a social conscience:

"He who has understanding and great wisdom does not think of harming himself or another, nor of harming both alike. He rather thinks of his own welfare, of that of others, of that of both, and of the welfare of the whole world. In that way one shows understanding and great wisdom." Anguttara Nikaya - (Gradual Sayings)