Don't Put All Your Happiness in One Basket | Happiness Hour
Dennis Prager argues that relying on one source for happiness—a spouse, children, work, or faith—leaves you vulnerable when that source fails. Callers share stories about marriage, parenting, and career struggles that illustrate the problem. The solution: build multiple sources of joy like hobbies, friendships, exercise, and community.
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On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom.
Today it is about a theme that cannot be stated often enough, and that is about not keeping all your happiness eggs in the same basket.
That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.
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Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Hear thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. Go to DennisPrager.com.
It's the Happiness Hour on the Dennis Prager Show. Every week at this time, come hell, high water, budget deficits, you name it. Yes, yes, yes. Like those lyrics, folks? All right, everybody, America and the world, here we go. It's the happy, happy, happy, happy hour. Yes, it is. It's the happy, happy, happy, happy hour.
Be happy.
Alrighty, my friends. Happiness makes the world better. Yes, indeed. Happy people make the world better, and the world is made worse by the unhappy. I'm sorry, my friends. That's the way it is. Everybody has a tough life. That's the way it is too. Some have it tougher than others, admittedly, but there's little relationship between tough life and happiness. Some with quite a tough life walk around with far greater cheer than those with an easier life. And that is our moral obligation to walk around at least acting happy and trying to be it. It is not a bowl of cherries. Wow, is that an original thought? Oh wow, where did I come up with that? Life is not a bowl of cherries. That— okay. All right, everybody, welcome to the Dennis Prager Show, the happiness hour come hell or high water. And there's a lot of the former going on. We talk about happiness. That's right. Happy people make the world better. Happy people make everything better. A happy producer makes a better show. A happy engineer makes a better show. A happy intern makes a better show. Just to give things off the top of my head. You're not a happy producer.
Yeah.
I can't repeat it. It was the— but it was a gem. All right, I have to repeat it, right? Sean— oh, Roy, stop laughing. He hired you. Are you sure about the happy producer thing? That's what cracked us all up. Let me say a word about Alan, okay? Alan is happy. His temperament is, however, a sedated one. Not sedated, that's not a good word. That sounds like— it's a calm. It's a non-volatile. Phlegmatic.
Phlegmatic.
That is the word. But most people will just think you have a bad cold if I say phlegmatic. That's all. And which I deeply appreciate. And it is in contradistinction to mine. We are a great team. Alan, did I back you up? All right, good, good. I will do a honey update just to make— I'm not kidding though, folks. This show, I'm dead serious. Just to give you an idea of the importance of happiness, this show is improved by having happy people work on it. I'm not kidding. I am not kidding. I'm not kidding. Everything is improved in life. Family life, marital life, uh, business life, friendship life, and the world's life. The unhappy became communists. The unhappy became Nazis. The unhappy blow themselves up along with people around them. Happy people don't do these things. Happy people who have a love of life— I mean, after all, love of life is part of happiness, right? I mean, to say I'm happy but I love death is what we call an oxymoron. If happiness is to mean anything, loving death can't be part of it. All right, that's all by way of preamble. Welcome to the show every Friday, second hour of the program. It is a 3-hour show, The Dennis Prager Show, and we, we measure it accordingly. And so the second hour of Fridays is devoted to happiness. Today it is about a theme that cannot be stated often enough, and that is about not keeping all your happiness eggs in the same basket. Like that, Sean? It's a good one, no? Folks, I want to say this. I know I've said it in different ways, and, and I know that.
I know.
It, it, so I'm going to say it in yet more different ways, give more examples, take your calls, because if you follow this, you have a much, much better chance for happiness. You can't put all your happiness eggs in one basket because what if the basket breaks and the eggs shatter? That's why. And to a certain extent, it is almost inevitable that that—
What?
basket is eternal. Now don't tell me, you know, God— of course I know God is eternal, and that's not my point. And by the way, I would not want you to put all your eggs in the God basket, to be perfectly honest, nor does God. It was a Christian pastor who made this point that I, I am in love with. Said God announced at the outset of creation that he himself, he, God himself, is not enough. When he said, it is not good for Adam, for man, to be alone. But Adam wasn't alone. He had God. And yet God says, even, even I am not sufficient. You need a companion in human form. You need a human companion, O man. So, so even God is not sufficient. God is necessary. But not sufficient. And so putting your eggs in any one basket is not a good idea. By the way, it's not a good idea for anybody because, you know, there are parents who put all their happiness eggs in the child basket. You think that's good for your child? I am the child, thank God, of 2 healthy parents. My parents are still alive. together, well, vibrant. I am happy that I am not the basket of their happiness. Do I bring them some happiness? Of course I do. I'm a wonderful son.
Okay?
Of course. I mean, if I didn't know that, I would be out of my mind. Of course I know. I intend to be. My brothers are wonderful. So we have— they have 2 kids. All right? That's fine. In fact, just this week, On my call home, and my father, who always philosophizes on the phone, gave, Dennis, I want you to know, my mother on the other line, and my wife was listening in too, and he was saying, Dennis, I just want you to know, how did he put it? He said, I get happiness from a lot of things, but your mother is my biggest single source of happiness. Not my children, not my grandchildren, not my great-grandchildren. And he adores being with them and they adore being with him. And I wanted to hear that. Not only was I not insulted, I was relieved. I don't want to hear, you are my greatest source of happiness. And I don't want my children to think that that's what I think of them. I want them to be happy. And that brings me a lot of joy, but I don't rely on them to be happy. The more things you do, reading, reading should bring you happiness. There's just another, see, there's an example. That should be music, reading, traveling, hobbies, friends, glee club, coin club. What is that motion you're making? I'm just making a face.
Exercise.
That is adorable. He's really on today, Sean. I got to tell you, we should have a video in there with the guy. Sean is on the robust side and watching him do these exercises gives one— do you do exercise regularly? I didn't think so. Okay, fine. All right. I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. There are— oh, it's very rare that I wish we were on TV, but this is one of those moments. 1-800-PRAGER-776. 1-800-PRAGER-776. Yes, that's right. And also, yes, exercise, sports. I mean, it's endless. It is endless. That's the point. That's why There are a handful of things that drive me nuts when a kid says, like, I am bored. Of course, my kids stopped saying that to me because they know they get no sympathy. And what I say is, no, you're not bored, you're boring. That has always been my answer to a kid saying that. And if you meet an adult saying that, that's really tragic. I mean, you know, it's far more likely that you meet a kid, but if you met an adult said, I'm bored, you're bored with all the options in this society for, you know, I understand. If people who worked the land 100, 200, 300 years ago, and they'd get up at sunrise and do the same thing they did the last 12 years at sunrise and go to bed at sunset and do the same exact thing all day till sunset, and if they were bored on the next day of planting corn, I understand. But in our society, with the options that we have, Uh, for, for anything. I mean, what you can do with a camera, you don't even have to buy film anymore. Making pictures is now free. That's right, it is now free. You don't even have to buy film. There is no overhead. I mean, it's like a miracle. There is no overhead to making 10,000 photographs. The The Happiness Hour.
This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
For nearly 3,000 years, Homer's The Odyssey has shaped Western imagination. It tells the story of Odysseus as he faces monsters, shipwrecks, false comforts, and impossible choices on his long journey home. As one of the foundational works of Western literature, Homer's epic is more than a mythology. It explores permanent questions about courage, duty, loyalty, family, leadership, temptation, and the search for home. In one of the epic's defining moments, Odysseus rejects the offer of immortality from the goddess Calypso, choosing instead the long and difficult journey home. His decision reveals one of the central themes of the Odyssey, that a life of duty, family, and home is greater than a life devoted to comfort or glory. Achilles chose glory. Odysseus chose home. That's why Hillsdale College has released its newest free online course, The Odyssey, taught by Professor Benedict Whalen. The course reveals why Homer's masterpiece remains one of the greatest works of Western literature. Find this free course at charlieforhillsdale.com. That's charlieforhillsdale.com. Read the classics, study the West. The Odyssey from Hillsdale College. Go to charlieforhillsdale.com.
Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.
Hi everybody, you're listening to The Dennis Prager Show, the Happiness Hour, and truly one of the Most significant of all issues in happiness is not putting all your eggs in one basket, meaning not depending on one thing for all your happiness. The most common, I believe the most common failure in that is in children. It is wrong for so many reasons that that's probably worth its own show. We got to put that down. Notice, folks, I no longer say, write that down, Alan. Did you see? It's now the royal we. We should write that down, Alan. But since I won't, it leaves— Anyway, the reason not to do it just on children is that it's unfair to your child and unfair to you, by the way. It's unfair to you, but it's not what children are— that's not what children are for. You have children, and that's a very good subject of our Ultimate Issues Hour. Why have children? That's big. And it really needs to be answered today because people have options. Obviously, they have birth control. That's the first area that makes it possible. Secondly, they have options for a life without children. You don't depend on your children. Uh, in, in your old age. You depend on Social Security and your own savings and, and so on. All right, let's, uh, let's take some of your calls here. And, uh, let's see, let's take, uh— oh boy, there are so many good ones. Yeah, let's go to, uh, Marie in San Diego. Hi, Marie.
Dennis Prager. Good morning to you. I wanted to tell you I'm a single parent of 2 kids, business owner, and you have helped me go through 2 deployments, uh, businesses low, I lost money, a divorce, and you are making me— you are shaping me into a better woman. And I work out every morning for 2 hours and I listen to you on my iPod and music, and that brings me the greatest joy. I think the future man of my life is going to send you flowers because every woman, man hour Uh, I am becoming a better woman.
Uh, I am speechless. I am speechless at how beautiful a statement you just made. I would love your future husband to send me a thank you note. It would mean the world to me, frankly. That's great. That's why I do the Happiness Hour. And I was saying to Alan during the break that it was always important and always popular. It's well over 10 years. I never remember when we started. And I believe, of course, given the times we live in, it is more important than ever. I feel that way about the 3 dedicated hours that I do, the Male-Female Hour, the Ultimate Issues Hour, and the Happiness Hour, that, that more and more it will draw people and be meaningful to people. Because you can get very, very, uh, your mind can get very distorted. in its thinking when things are really good materially. You can lose sight of what really matters. Then when the material world starts to collapse, what really matters becomes clearer. Oh, where is the guy? There was a fellow in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. There was a call that God was sufficient. I was gonna take you, uh, sir— I think it was a sir— Try to get in if you can. Let's go to the Bronx, New York. Bronx, New York, on the Apple, AM 970. Hello, Charlie. Dennis Prager.
Hello, Dennis. You're a pres— before I start speaking, let me say quickly that you're a pleasure to listen to.
Thank you.
More easier on the ears than our other conservative station here in New York.
More easy on the ears than what?
Than our other conservative station.
Oh, that other conservative station. Okay. Well, this is a— the Apple's a great station. I'm very proud of my colleagues.
Go ahead.
I agreed with you when you were talking about reading. It's one of my many hobbies, and the number of books that I've read— when I get into a good book, you practically can't find me. So I just wanted to agree with you on the point. Thank you for bringing it up.
Well, you're very welcome. I know that to be true for me and for those who love reading even more than a movie, and a movie certainly grabs your attention, but A movie, you know, no movie could grab your attention for 6 hours, let alone for 6 days. A book transports you. I have been reading this book on Mao. I mean, I have so many other things that I've taken a break for the last week because I've been so busy since the return from Africa. But the— I have been— I feel I have been living in early 20th century China with this book. 1-800-PRAGER-776. Do you have any questions on this subject of not putting all your eggs in one basket? I, I, I do. Have you— or here's an alternative thing for you to comment on— have you done this? Did you do it with children? Did you do it— which I'll tell you where the most logical area is. The most logical area is in marriage. If you have a good marriage, and I would say about a quarter of marriages are that good. Maybe not even a quarter. I wish it was 100%. Obviously, I have no joy in saying this, but it's a minority. But if you do have such a marriage, it is the greatest— I think it's the greatest single source of joy. But even there, for the sake of Your companion. You don't want them— you don't want to be the only source of joy because it narrows you, because you are less alive. And certainly not children and certainly not work. And by the way, if there's any— if there are people who enjoy their work more than I do, I'd like to meet them. I'm not saying that there's no one who enjoys their work as much as I do, but it would be hard for me to imagine somebody who enjoys it more. A, I love it. B, it is meaningful. I mean, everything about it is wonderful. And I communicate that. I think you know that I couldn't fake this every day for 26 years. It's a lot of faking. Or maybe I did fake it and I followed the 12-step program, fake it and then you'll make it, or whatever it is, fake it and you'll make it. No, no, I love this. But it would be bad for you if this were my only source of happiness. You would have a less well-rounded, less healthy Dennis Prager. All right, let's go to Honey in Phoenix, Arizona. Hi, Honey. Dennis Prager. Honey?
Hello?
Hi.
It's Connie.
It's Connie?
Yeah.
All right, who's screening today? They're dead.
Oh.
Joseph?
Yes.
Well, when you—
chastisement room. Yes.
When you talked about putting Your eggs in more than one basket, it just really hit me hard because I had all my eggs in one basket, and that was to my husband. And I was just devastated when he announced after 46 years of marriage that he no longer loved me.
Oh my God.
And I just about collapsed.
All right, I'm keeping, I'm keeping you on. I want to hear how you handled it. That, that, that's, that's terrible. That is, back in a moment.
This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
As a new school year begins, The Salvation Army's Words of Life podcast is launching a special series designed to encourage and equip families for the journey ahead. Featuring conversations with a veteran high school math teacher, a licensed student counselor, and experienced parents, This series tackles the real challenges students and families face today.
Don't be afraid, I guess, as parents, that it's gonna be messy, it's gonna look ugly. What a blessing it is to be entrusted with the lives of people that can pour out their dirty and their mess, and you be there to pick them up.
That's awesome.
Whether you're a parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor, or student, these practical and hope-filled conversations offer biblical encouragement Alongside real-world wisdom from people who have spent years investing in the lives of young people. This series begins on August 12th, so be sure to subscribe to Words of Life so you don't miss any of these episodes. To learn more about the show, visit wordsoflifepodcast.org.
Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.
It's so important to make someone Make just one someone happy. Make just one heart to heart. You, you sing to one smile that cheers you. One face that lights when it nears you. One girl, you're, you're everything.
You're everything.
Nothing to fame if you win it. Comes and goes in a minute. Where's the real stuff in life to cling to? Love is the answer. Someone to love. All righty, my friends. Thank you, Jimmy Durante. You found her. You know, it's funny, people say rest in peace. I'm thinking, I don't want Jimmy Durante to be resting in peace. I want him to be singing in the celestial places right now and bringing his inimitable joy to others. I don't want him to be resting. It's a funny statement, actually, rest in peace. I wonder how many— well, actually, wait a minute. Well, I see. I wonder how many cultures say that about, about the dead. You know, it's an interesting question about what phrase would be used. I know in Hebrew one says peace unto him, and Arabs say that as well. So it's— I guess it's— I guess that's— I guess what's what people want. They want peace. That's another subject for the Happiness Hour, peace of mind. Parenthetically, talking about peace of mind, 1-800-PRAGER-776, by the way. 1-800-PRAGER-776.
Thank you.
Talking about peace of mind, I think we did a male-female hour on suggestions that I had to men on how to stay faithful. Remember? Because it's a battle for any normal man. And guys write to me, I know they write to me, oh, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm never tempted. You guys are remarkable out there. Every man that I know has been tempted. Those of you who write to me that you've never been tempted, are phenomena. I mean, I'm not saying you're lying. I just, it's, I just, I've never met a man that I knew well for whom that was true. So since it's the vast majority of men are, one thing to just know is if you value peace of mind, an affair is destructive. As you can get it. It's— anyway, that's just one of the practical— forgetting the moral arguments, one of the practical arguments against it. Just think of the world of lies that you have to live and create. Alrighty, this, uh, the topic today on the Happiness Hour is don't put all your eggs in one basket. Whatever the basket is, it could be— depends on different ages of your life, it's different things. So, for example, for many people, especially, I think, more women than men, but including men, especially traditional cultures, my children are my whole happiness. It's not fair to your child. As I said, I don't want to be my parents' whole happiness. I don't want them to live for me. It becomes less enjoyable to be in their presence, in fact, if that's the case. Children don't want it. It's not good. That doesn't mean that children can't be a source of happiness and certainly unhappiness. Of course they should be. Absolutely. And so whatever it is, kids have a different thing. Obviously they don't live— kids, you know, they live— they might— their big thing might be popular in school. If I'm not popular in school, then I have no happiness. Anybody, any kid who believes that should read Michael Medved's book, his first book, I think it was, or one of his first books, Whatever Happened to the Class of '65? Read what happened to the most popular kids in high school later in life. The top cheerleader, the quarterback, the this, the that, the ones who were the most popular. That's right. Downhill. That's exactly right. I was blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed with a non-desire for popularity. So I had other things. And I told my kids, find one or two wonderful kids to be close with. And you will have a happier youth. Wanting to be popular, then you end up like Bill Clinton, who I think is one of the least happy people in public life. Alrighty, we go back to Connie in Phoenix. Connie, all right, poor Connie. Connie, hold on again. I feel bad. I'm laughing at myself, Connie. I'm not laughing at you, God forbid. Connie called in and she had put all her eggs in the husband basket. And by the way, if you—
if you—
if a woman says, I want to live to be a wonderful wife, that's beautiful. That's— that's different from putting all your happiness eggs. Okay. I think it's a beautiful thing for a woman to aspire to, to make the man the most important thing in her life. That's a dream. But that's a separate issue as to put all your happiness eggs in one basket. Back in a moment.
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Yeah, this is truly happy music. Hi everybody, finally I'm gonna get back to Connie here. This is the Happiness Hour. The theme is do not put all your happiness eggs in one basket. The more baskets you have, the more things that bring you joy and happiness, the better. The biggest danger generally has been traditionally putting all your eggs in the children basket. Kids put it in the popularity basket, just to give you an example. And now we go to Connie, back to you in Phoenix. Now let me understand this, because this is a— it's very painful but important that you called, Connie, and I thank you. Married 46 years, and then one day you're— and you put all your happiness in the marital basket. Right.
Yes.
And then 46 years, your husband announced, I no longer love you, and divorces.
No, he didn't divorce me. We're still together.
Oh, oh, okay. I'm sorry. Oh, all right.
I mean, the relationship—
Well, wait, wait. Why would he say that?
I have no clue. I think that he's— there's something wrong with the guy. I really do. Anyway, I went to counseling, and the guy, the counselor, told me I need to concentrate on making myself happy in other ways.
That's right.
So I went and I'm— I started to do a flower arranging class. I play mahjong with the women, and I just finished a Bible study class that was just for 6 weeks. And I mean, I'm doing things. I had ladies over for lunch the other day. I'm doing things like that. Well, of course I do things. We have 4 beautiful daughters, my husband and I, and 8 grandchildren.
So I, you know, I do Connie, it sounds like you have more things bringing you joy in your life than most people do.
I just have to wait for my husband to clear his mind, or I don't know. I don't know what's going on with him.
I'm curious if I would say to him, uh, and I don't need to know his name, I'll just call him Joe. If I'd say, Joe, uh, uh, I'd have 2 questions. Joe, why after 46 years did you say this to Connie? What would he answer?
I don't know. Do you know? I should ask him that, but I'm afraid to.
Okay, well, I would ask one other question. I would ask him one other question. If you feel that way, why do you want to stay together?
Mm-hmm.
I would ask him that.
Well, I think the first question is more important, that why he would say that to me. Why? What makes him feel that way after all these years?
Well, how old is he? Is he older than you?
Yes.
How old is he?
5 years older than me. Yeah.
All right, well, he's not old, but yeah.
We're still together. I still do things for him, like, I mean, I clean the house, cook, and just like I always did before, but I mean, I still—
Is he less loving?
Oh, cold as a cucumber.
Well, why don't you divorce?
No, I made a covenant with my husband. The covenant was with God at the beginning. That he is my beloved forever.
Okay, all right, look, I'll never argue with that, and I respect you tremendously, but the gist of your call is critical. When she did the best thing you could do, the basket broke, and so she developed other baskets. Anyway, she's very blessed if she has 4 wonderful daughters. I mean, to go 4 for 4 on your kids, that's a big deal. That's a big deal. What happened to the guy? You know, I tell you, these guys. The guy had a call on, he objected. I don't think, it's hard to imagine he was serious.
He said he was serious.
Oh, Joe said he was serious? All right. That he did not like the fact that I said that people who blow themselves up are not happy. Hmm. I said that Nazis were not happy, communists were not happy, and people who blow themselves up are not happy. Well, if people who blow themselves up are happy, Then don't listen to my Happiness Hour, because my definition of happiness includes loving life.
Okay?
If you look forward to death, you're not happy. All right, that's it. Okay, let's go to— all right, that's true, that's true, that's true. And then let's go to Beaumont, California, and Vince. Hello, Vince. Dennis Prager.
Hello, Vince.
Hi, Dennis. Thank you so much for all your wisdom. I love your show.
Thank you for that.
I got married 51 years ago at 18.
Right.
Hold on.
You are— one minute. You are 52, 53. Do you know that? You know, I know people who will do that.
Really?
Yeah. They will use their fingers. Go ahead. Yeah.
Okay. About 10 years after we married, My wife was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and I—
Wait, wait, I'm sorry, how many years after marriage?
About 10.
Okay, go on.
Obviously she had it before that, but we didn't know it. I spent the next 40 years trying to make her happy, put all my eggs in that basket, and it didn't work. I was ready to die. I was getting sick. I really was a miserable person, right? I was constantly trying to make her happy.
Was one of the attempts medication?
Oh, she's on all the medication.
Okay, go on. All right, go on, go on. All right, go on.
Yeah. Yeah, I just— that stuff doesn't work.
Okay, well, it does, it does. It didn't work with her, but quickly go on. So what happened?
It helps.
Okay.
About a year and a half ago, she announced that she was leaving me. Because she was fearful of that I was poisoning her toothpaste and things like that. And there was nothing legally I could do about it. And so she walked out, left me. And I can't tell you, at first it was so devastating. And then I decided, and hopefully I can say it was partly due to listening to your program for so many years, I decided to be happy.
That's it. That's it. That's it. It's a powerful call. By the way, look, you know, everything that he mentioned, I have talked about on the Happiness Hour. First, A, you can't make somebody else happy. We can only make ourselves happy. You can make somebody else unhappy, but you cannot make somebody else happy. The biggest reason that the happy often marry the unhappy is the belief that they can make the unhappy happy. It is a very common desire. The happy are usually better people because they're happy and because they're better to begin with sometimes, sometimes. And so they want to save and rescue the unhappy. All right. Well, I think we have this man about the terrorist issue coming up.
This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
As a new school year begins, The Salvation Army's Words of Life podcast is launching a special series designed to encourage and equip families for the journey ahead. Featuring conversations with a veteran high school math teacher, a licensed student counselor, and experienced parents, this series tackles the real challenges students and families face today.
Don't be afraid, I guess, as parents, that it's gonna be messy, it's gonna look ugly. What a blessing it is to be entrusted with the lives of people that can pour out their dirty and their mess and you be there to pick them up.
That's awesome.
Whether you're a parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor, or student, these practical and hope-filled conversations offer biblical encouragement alongside real-world wisdom from people who have spent years investing in the lives of young people. This series begins on August 12th, so be sure to subscribe to Words of Life so you don't miss any of these episodes. To learn more about the show, visit wordsoflifepodcast.org.
Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.
Happiness Hour, Dennis Prager Show. And go to Dallas, Texas, and a man who wants to be anonymous. Hello, anonymous. Dennis Prager.
How you doing, sir? Thanks for taking my call.
Thank you for calling back. I particularly wanted your call.
OK, um, I listen to your show a lot. You talk about happiness a lot, and I just didn't like the fact you put the context of terrorism and happiness in the same sentence.
Well, actually terrorism and unhappiness, but yeah, go on.
I mean, I mean, first of all, I'm not for any of that. God bless America, and it's the greatest country in the world, and that's why I'm here. But terrorists has no— how am I going to say— they have no life. So the person has no life, least of his concern is happiness, don't you think?
Yeah, whether they have a life or not, first of all, I don't buy that. The 19 who attacked the United States had terrific lives. They were all upper-middle-class people from Arab countries, mostly Saudi Arabia. They were on student or work visas in the United States. They had a terrific life. They traveled around the world. They had a better life than the vast majority of people. They were profoundly unhappy, bitter, angry, and evil. And they were— so this notion that they don't have a life is propaganda. Would you say that about Nazis and communists? They didn't have a life?
See, you twisted it again.
How did I— what did I twist? I compare— there are 3 people—
Okay, to you, happiness could be a ball of ice cream. to them happy is just to see somebody in pain.
Yes, all right, fine.
But it's individual, isn't it?
Yeah, so in other— all right, so is your question, in other words, it is very possible that a sadist is happy when he's torturing? Is that what you're saying?
I'm just saying happiness comes individually. Certain people have different views of happiness.
I'm sure they do, and I—
And I think it's hilarious that it's just funny.
What was the last line? I missed it, I'm sorry.
For you to put that into context, it just— it was more political than anything else about your happy hour.
Well, it wasn't political. critical any more than— do you think that whites who lynched blacks were particularly happy people?
Because they think they are. That's what I'm saying.
I don't— well, okay, so whether they— they may think they are, that is possible. So I am offering the idea that the average person who joined the Nazis, who was in a lynch mob of a black in the southern United States, Who was a communist, uh, uh, or who is a, uh, a terrorist, uh, that these people, if we say that they are among the happier humans, then happiness is, is, is a true irrelevance in life. It is truly irrelevant. And, and my proof is this. Everyone listening, everyone knows that they want, when they are, when they feel happy, is when they feel they want to do the most good. Not be the most cruel. Every single one of you listening knows that.
On tomorrow's episode of Dennis Teaches the Torah.
And, uh, I, like, I suspect every one of you have learned a lot about this. I may have learned more than some because I think I started out more naive on the subject. And the subject is The family and its troubles. So I want to begin with the Torah. The Torah does a favor, and I mean this absolutely sincerely. I think the Torah does us a tremendous favor by having every one of the families in the entire Book of Genesis. Dysfunctional, and I mean it with—I mean with utter sincerity. It is in—it's a great service. Jews revere the patriarchs and the matriarchs: Abraham, Abraham, Yitzhak, Yaakov, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah. And they are properly revered, but not one had a family without serious problems.
Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. We want to take just a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. Go to lifeaudio.com to find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network, including shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.
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