Don’t Trust People? You May Be the Problem. | Happiness Hour

Life Audio. On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom. If you believe that people are basically good, it is— there's a very good chance that as you get older, you will become disillusioned, which means your illusion will drop. And you will then become bitter and unhappy.

Well, my level of trust definitely changed when I moved from Hollywood to Dallas.

I said it was contextual, that society helps you determine whether you can trust.

And it's not just my environment. I mean, I did see homeless men urinating on mailboxes while they smiled and said hello to me, and crack deals going down.

Where, in Hollywood? In Hollywood?

Yes.

How did they urinate on a mailbox? Were they standing on a ladder?

Just, um, you know—

I'm just trying to picture it.

He was just standing behind the mailbox, smiling and saying hi, and then as I got closer, I realized what he was doing, and I'm—

Come on, that is one of the attractions of Hollywood. I don't know why you would dump on it. That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. When someone you love is hurting, what do you do? We're often quick to say, if there's anything I can do, just let me know. But what if we stopped waiting to be asked and simply showed up? On the If There Is Anything I Can Do podcast, Pam McConnell shares real stories, biblical wisdom, and practical ways to walk alongside people through grief, loss, and life's hardest moments. Learn how to show up and make a difference. Subscribe now at klovpodcast.com, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 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. Alrighty, it's the Happiness Hour on the Dennis Prager Show. Yes, indeed, every week at this time, come hell or high water, frogs, lice, the sun blotted out, doesn't matter. Happy, happy, happy, happy hour. Yes, it is. It's the happy, happy, happy hour. Alrighty, my friends, I consider this subject to be of surpassing importance. Happy people make a better world, and you have a moral obligation to be as happy as possible. That is correct. You have a moral obligation, just as you have a moral obligation to be an ethical human being. You have a moral obligation to be as happy as possible. You owe it to everybody in your life. If you live alone on a desert island, then you only owe it to God. But, uh, on, uh, when we— Interact with people. We owe it to anybody we interact with— family, friends, business colleagues, the person next to you in the airplane, people with you in an elevator, etc., etc., etc. I'm Dennis Prager, author of a book on happiness, Happiness Is a Serious Problem, which many of you have read. Always a puzzle to me why any of you who like this hour each week have not read it, and so I commend it to your attention. Thank you. Well then, I have a two-pronged subject for today, and that is how we regard other people and our own happiness. How we regard people in general and our happiness. And this is a tough one because it will sound almost It's mutually contradictory what I'm about to say. On the one hand, and this regards— both regard how you look at life. It's a philosophy of life question. That's a big part of your happiness. On the one hand, if you believe that people are basically good, If you go around with that view, that human beings are good people, and that they're just, you know, there are a few nasty ones, but human beings are good people, it is, there's a very good chance that as you get older, you will become disillusioned, which means your illusion will drop, and you will then become bitter, And unhappy. If you start from the proposition that people are not basically good, the proposition that every single religious system and every system of wisdom has begun with— it is only a modern European Enlightenment idea that people are basically good, and a particularly Dumb idea, given the amount of obvious evidence to the contrary. Now, I don't believe we're basically bad. I believe we basically can go in every direction, depending on our values, our upbringing, etc. Now, I have written in the book, and I believe, that if you have a sober view of human nature, you're less likely to get hurt. Because you're less likely to be disappointed. You're not going to be shocked. My God, look at that. I think, for example, take girls. Girls who are prone to emotional and romantic thinking in general will often have a sort of Uh, unreal view of men. And it is the obligation of men to teach girls— fathers, uncles, radio talk show hosts who talk the truth, whomever it might be— to tell them, you know, guys are terrific, but they are also programmed to want your body. So you might want to know that. my dear 16-year-old, 18-year-old, 20-year-old, whatever. So girls will often get hurt, shocked by the fact that the guy has done everything possible short of violent threats to get her body.

Okay?

Now, that's an example of where naïveté gets you in trouble. Whereas if you have an actual real view of men, you will just enjoy them and love them for whom they are. And be aware that they come with this price of this programming. It's an example of where a naive belief in people can get you in trouble. A naive belief can— men have naive beliefs just as much as women do. They just may be in different areas. But naive belief, or what I hear from people, well, no matter whom I meet, I try to find the good in that person. I never have understood that. I never, truly, I've never understood that line. What does that mean? You meet somebody who is basically a liar and a crook and a thief and callous and mean, and you're searching for the good in them? What for?

Why?

They have opted overwhelmingly to be bad. Why are you searching for the good in them?

I don't—

what does that mean even? Were you sent by God to find the good and extricate it? Well, that's fine. If you believe that, that's fine, but don't adopt it as your personal mission. You can adopt it as your religious mission or some other. I mean, priests who work with kids who are in gangs try to find the good in them so that they can turn them away from gang work, and that's a very good and blessed thing that they do. I commend them. But to go through life where you just open yourself up to bad people thinking that, well, if I just am sweet, they'll be nice, that doesn't work. Some people truly are not wonderful. Now let me tell you why this is a complex subject, because I hold equally strongly that while you have a sober, non-naive, non-romantic view of human nature, Nevertheless, you should, in daily, in daily contact with people, open yourself up enough to enjoy people and even perhaps to be snubbed. It is still worth being as nice as possible to as many people as possible in your daily life. And I'm not talking here morally, I'm talking in terms of happiness. So you have to balance a sober understanding that human nature is not basically good with yet a non-overly guarded way of living in life. We raise our kids, and I have talked about this not on the Happiness Hour but on other shows, on other hours of the program, we raise our kids to fear strangers, and that is not a good thing. We should raise our kids with a sober view of human nature, but not to fear strangers. It is good to open up to strangers. It is good. Doesn't mean you take a ride with them if they offer you candy. Of course not. But when they say, how are you, you don't run away. And there are many adults who do that. I mean, it is, it is, it is one of the great differences between small city life And big city life. In small city life, people trust people more, and there is, there is greater happiness in that way. There just is. People are very guarded in large cities, very guarded in whom they will respond to. So here's what I'm telling you, and I will be happy to take your calls at 1-800-PRAGER-776. There are 2 competing things, and it is a balance, but all of life is a balance.

Thank you.

Life is a narrow bridge, as a great Hebrew song goes. All of life is a narrow bridge, and the essence and the important thing is not to fear. And that is the case here. It is a narrow bridge. On the one hand, do not walk around thinking that human nature is basically good and, and trust everybody. In every way, wherever you meet, because you'll find the good in them. There are some people who just aren't good. On the other hand, it is good to trust the general stranger you meet enough to open up, and if you get hurt— that's been my attitude— if I get hurt here, for example, I mean, I'm talking little things. I'm not talking about romantic relationships or deep friendships. I'm not talking about that. There you get hurt. It's a terrible hurt. I'm talking about in daily life where you just, you act nicely and you are then vulnerable to the person not responding. But so what? It's their thing. That's their problem, not yours. It's still worth being open and decent and good to the people that you meet, to your waitress and the waitress to you. To the people in the elevator and the other people in the elevator to you. So that is my challenge to you. Can— do you— does it make sense to you? Can you walk this balance, not being naive about human nature and at the same time opening yourself up to people and trusting? 1-800-PRAGER-776. 1-800-PRAGER-776. Is the number for the Happiness Hour on the Dennis Prager Show. This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

Precious metals dealers come and go. This is Nick Grovich, president of Amped Coin and Bullion. We've stood the test of time since 1983. With the flurry of coin and bullion dealers coming and going, how do you know who to trust and what to buy? At Amped Coin and Bullion, we value educated consumers. We want to alert you to good bullion buys in the market and help you steer clear of the tricks and bad deals. Call AMFED Coin and Bullion for a free coin performance review. 800-221-7694 or americanfederal.com.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom. Listening to The Dennis Prager Show, The Happiness Hour, and let me pose the question to you this way. Have you been hurt by people by trusting too much, or have you been hurt by trusting too little? And that is in, in one way of putting what I am saying into a question. 1-800-PRAGER-776. 1-800-PRAGER-776. 877-243-7776. Life is almost always a narrow thin line between 2 extremes. One extreme is you trust everybody you meet and you just open yourself up to hurt. The other extreme is you don't trust anybody until they prove themselves over a long period of time, and you walk around extremely guarded and you lose out in human interaction. That is what I'm talking about, and that's why I say it's a difficult subject because Either extreme is just as injurious to your chances of being happy. If you trust too easily or you trust with too much difficulty. And I don't even mean trust for love or intimacy. No, although that's a factor. I mean in daily interaction. I see people who are so guarded that almost if you ask, how are you? They, they, well, what do you mean by that? And they create a wall between themselves and other people ever entering into their life, even on a 5-minute or 2-minute basis. So either extreme of, well, oh, I look for the good in people, and then you open yourself up and pow, or nobody's going to get to me. Not good. And let's go to Dallas and Scott on K-SKY. Hello, Scott. Dennis Prager.

Good afternoon, Dennis.

Hi.

I'd kind of like to couch this by saying that I'm in law enforcement, and one of the adages that we learn early on in training— and I wish I knew who the original author was— was be courteous and friendly to everyone, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet. I love it. And the reason that we say this is because obviously if you trust too much, As a law enforcement officer, there are people out there who want to do physical harm to you.

Right.

And on the other hand, in dealing with the general public, if you are too cynical and you come across that way, you come across as stern, unfriendly, to where the public will not trust you.

Right.

And doesn't want to confide in you. So there's a very strong balance that you have to have. And I think as much as people have a great caution and sometimes an antipathy law enforcement officers, I think that when we establish relationships, they tend to be a little bit better and more trusting because we have gone through those sort of steps of learning what to say, how to, how to sort of feel the waters of someone when they come into our lives. And we sort of learn who we can and can't trust because of what we've learned through training. Right. And— And I'm not saying that everybody needs to go through that, But it's sort of a good barometer that we use.

And for you, the stakes are very high.

Oh, yes.

See, for most people, if they make a mistake, they won't get shot.

Yeah.

So, so you really have to be aware of both sides. It's a very good call. I appreciate it. That's exactly right. It's a good attitude to adopt. Be courteous and open and be prepared to shoot them. I like it. I like it. I think it works. But I know I go through life trusting strangers. I do. And on occasion, on occasion, it has not been reciprocated. And I always say to myself, don't let this make you cynical. Now, by trust, I don't mean I've put my entire life in their hands, but I have opened up as a human. So that, so that we can have a more open and human thing going. But you, you do open yourself to being rejected. I don't mean by lovers. I mean just by, by a clerk in a, in a store, by the teller in the bank. But it is worth it. It is worth it for your happiness to be more open to people that you meet. I know in big cities in particular, this is probably an issue that a lot of attractive women have, and that is they're very afraid to be friendly, lest they lead on a guy to thinking that they're interested. This has been told to me by a lot of women, and it is clear. And guys then pick up the idea that, you know, well, don't be friendly to attractive women. Because, you know, they'll, they'll think that you're trying to hit on them. And so that's an added complication that takes place in human intercourse, which is very sad. It just, it just makes the, the, the pretty woman less human, and it makes, it makes everybody more tense. So even if you're a pretty woman, you should still be friendly. In fact, if you are friendly, it immediately Makes you more human and therefore less of an object. So it's actually in your, in your, uh, to your advantage to actually be open and friendly, uh, if you are an attractive woman, because it'll just, it, it will, it will detensify the situation. So, uh, for anybody, For kids. I remember, God, I remember at an airport, I always say, first of all, I talk to strangers all the time. But secondly, and not all respond. That's a good example from my own life. I could take that non-response hurtfully. And by the way, it isn't pleasant. I fully admit it is not pleasant. But it is— I don't translate that into not doing it with the next person because the percentage of people who will respond is very high. But I remember talking to a bunch of— a couple of— 2 kids, or one kid, I think it was one kid, about 6 years old. And as soon as I started talking to him, he ran away and, you know, hid under his mother's coat or something. And the mother should have said, it's okay, you could talk to him. Instead, just, you know, comforted him, having run away from a human tsunami. All righty, and let's go to Eddie. Uh, whoops, that's not Eddie, that's a blank line. That's Eddie in San Diego on KCBQ. Hello, Eddie.

Hey, Dennis, how you doing this morning?

Okay, thank you.

Good. Um, very quickly, in 12 steps, they have an expression that expectations are premeditated resentment. And so, you know, just substituting trust for expectation. When you trust that somebody's going to do something, act a certain way, respond in a certain fashion, much like the police officer in the previous call here, um, when they don't do that, now all of a sudden you start building resentment, which over time starts compounding. That is what we learned in 12-step. And so instead, it's better to step back and just watch what somebody's doing in sort of a detached way.

That's— so that's the 12-step approach?

Yeah, that's exactly—

Yeah, well, there's so much wisdom. That's why I'm asking. There's so much wisdom in 12-step programs. So some are— yeah, go on.

Let me tell you something later on. I've been at 12-step for, for 3 years now, and the far— because I used to have resentment galore because I expected, you know, family, friends were going to act in a certain way. They didn't.

That's right.

They're hurting me, blah blah blah. Now that I've really Now I'm on the other side of that, done an awful lot of work on myself on it. Now I actually have far greater compassion for them since I don't expect them to do anything.

And not only that, far more gratitude for whatever you do get. That's why I'm against expectations. Big chapter in the book. Back in a moment. This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this. Rising interest rates, stock volatility, out-of-control inflation. People are concerned about what the future holds financially. This is Dennis Prager for AMFED. Coin and Bullion. There's no better time than the present to move a portion of your IRA into precious metals. You should know there's a right and a wrong way to set up your precious metals IRA. Mistakes could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in IRS fines. Call AMFED Coin and Bullion, 800-221-7694, americanfederal.com. That's americanfederal.com. Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom. Let me tell you how I've worked this issue out. Because it is, it is a, uh, it's a tough one. Trusting people, not trusting people. I go through life with the deep, deep awareness that human beings are not basically good, and that includes me. Now, by that I don't mean that I, Dennis, am basically a bad person. I think I'm basically a good person. However, I am talking about human nature. And I am part of the rule of human nature. I am not excluded. Human nature does not tend toward the good. It tends toward both good and bad. That is human nature. Now, there are people who are born with greater tendencies towards goodness. There are those who were born with greater tendencies in the other direction. And I am aware of that. But I have a sober vision. I am not shocked by human evil. Let me put it to you that way. I'm not shocked by it. I am not shocked by perfidy, by, by, uh, dishonesty. I'm not shocked. I mean, I would be shocked in certain people, but I am not shocked. That's why I'm not shocked by sin. I mean, obviously it's, it's the human condition. But on the other hand, I walk around trusting people. And I don't mean with all of my life, but basically I trust people. And this is my attitude: if I get hurt, I get hurt. But it is far better to go through daily life trusting and get hurt occasionally than it is to go through life extremely guarded and never really live fully. It is a risk. Happiness is a risk-taking proposition. Everything good is a risk-taking proposition. But how will you make friends if you are not open? If you can only open up in some way after you have learned somebody, but nobody— you learned about someone, how will you learn about them? They won't open to you because you're not open. So in effect, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The friendly, the open, make more friends. Maybe they get hurt more often too, but they make more friends and they bring more good people into their lives and they have a better life. Now, if you trust and keep bringing bad people into your life, then you have an issue. The issue though is not trust. The issue is that you are not a good assessor. of human character. I'll never forget, I spoke to a businessman many years ago who was not the world's most honest businessman. He would acknowledge it. And he mentioned, and it was not related to his own honesty, but he was telling me how he basically doesn't trust anybody. And I didn't tell him, because it was not my place in those circumstances to do so, Although if I were old, I was, I mean, I was basically, I was in my 20s. It was not my place to tell a 50-year-old man. That's what I felt. But today I would say to somebody, well, maybe you don't trust because you know you're not trustworthy. This has been always my argument for why I do believe that good people are happier than bad people is because good people bring good people into their lives. And bad people don't bring anybody into their lives except other bad people. So if you don't trust anybody, the question you might want to ask is, can you be trusted? Are you saying something about yourself that you think everybody is out there to hurt you? Again, let me review here. You have a realization that human nature is not basically good, and at the same time, You walk around largely trusting people. At least we can in this society. There are societies where I believe that trust is probably a worse idea. We are very fortunate. My general sense in this country, in the United States of America at this time, is that we can. That the average person you will meet— now, if a person comes over and says, you know, I have a lake for you in Florida, Obviously, I'm not going to trust. I'm not talking about that, though. But here, I'll give you an example. I am prepared to take virtually anybody at the airport and say, could you watch my stuff while I go to the men's room or while I go to get a sandwich? Okay? I would do that randomly with anybody at the airport. The chances that somebody there is going to just walk away with my stuff, I think, are quite remote. 1-800-PRAGER-776. Do you trust people? Do you walk around guarded? The Happiness Hour on The Dennis Prager Show, 877-243-7776. This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

Hey Dennis, this is Charles McClure calling from Woodland Hills. It's been a long time. I, uh, just want to call and thank you. for everything that you've done. And I'm so sorry for your tale of woe. And it's— it's the show of faith and courage is really inspiring.

And I'm out in my yard right now.

I'm an old guy too, and I've had some serious stuff go on. And God bless, you know, in this situation. I know it's hard to say that, but I know that he has blessed you because you have so much knowledge. And you take care. This is Charles McClure from Woodland Hills thanking you so much with love. Hi, Dennis. This is Jacob M. I'm so glad to have a chance to leave this message for you. I go to the Sephardic Temple in Los Angeles, and on a few Shabbat occasions, Dr. Eddie Simon requested special Shlemah Refuah prayer for your quick recovery. However, this past Yom Kippur, towards the end of services, with the hechal door still open, he asked for a special, another special prayer for you. With hundreds of people standing, cancer prayed for you, and we all said amen. May you go from strength to strength. B'ezrat Hashem, get better soon. All the best, and be well soon.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom. The subject is trusting people and happiness, and I am offering you a very difficult Juggling act. On the one hand, to be aware that human nature is not basically good, though again, I don't say it's basically evil, we're in the middle. And on the other hand, to trust the average person that you meet to open up enough to enjoy life and not walk around with a shield around you. And so sometimes you'll get hurt. So what? So what? The purpose of life is not To never get hurt. It's to live life as fully as possible, which involves enjoying people a lot. That's in the elevator, on the airplane, your business colleague, your neighbor, etc., etc., etc. Alrighty, let's go to Jamie in Phoenix. Jamie, Dennis Prager, hi. Hello, Jamie. All right, Sean?

Nobody there.

Well, too bad, because Jamie said since bad Since bad people exist, then for one's own safety, we must assume that the stranger we meet is a bad person. I wish I could have had that. That's exactly the type of person that I wanted to talk to. See, that's why I call it a juggling act. On the one hand, you are very sober and not naive or romantic about human nature, and on the other hand, you trust the average person that you meet on a daily basis, at least in this society. I don't think it is true for every society. I think that it would be true here. I think it's true in a lot of societies. We're not the only one, but I think it is essentially so here. And let's go to Joy in Fort Worth on K-SKY. Joy, Dennis Prager, hi.

Hi.

Hi.

Thanks for taking my call.

Thank you.

I was wondering, and I don't know, I totally agree with what you're saying. There is Got to be some medium there. Um, I would— if somebody came to my door and asked to use the phone, I would definitely let them in and let them use the phone. Or if they needed food—

What's your address?

Ride somewhere, unless my children were home.

Now, now, that's, that's really something. Now, that, that is— see, to me, that is largely dependent upon where you live. I think that the average person in North Dakota would allow somebody to use their phone Knocking on the door and let them in the house. And I think the average person in New York City would not. And I'm not blaming the New York City person. There's more anonymity in New York City and you just don't know who you're dealing with. But that's an interesting question. I don't know if I would. That's a toughie. I'd have to read the situation with instincts. But you would allow a man came to the door and asked to use your phone and you were alone at the house, you would let him in?

If—

and there is a big difference there— if I felt that he was a vagrant that was causing me harm or had the potential to cause me harm, I would not. I would bring the phone out to the door. But if it was a man or a woman that had children in the car or said that he was broke down and he needed to use the phone, yeah.

Oh, I see. Well, of course, that's exactly right. I mean, that's where context That's where we make generalizations, and that's why I always tell people I defend generalizations. The odds are that a man with a car with a woman and children is going to hurt you are far less than a man alone. That's right.

What if he was walking down the street with a gas can and he wanted, you know, directions?

Yeah, all right.

Or if I was going down the street and he had a gas can, I'd pick him up.

Look, you know what? You know what? In 99.9999% of the situations, you would be right to do that, and you have opted To trust and contribute to the general trust in society over the rare possibility of being hurt. And I salute you.

I think that's the way people are raised. If you're raised in a home that, you know, is trusting and giving, then that's the way.

Yeah, that's very nice. Joy, it's a good call. Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

I appreciate it. All right, that, that's, that's a good example. Boy, that would be interesting. Oh, I live in a big city. Somebody came to the door, can I use your phone? Say, look, there's a phone booth right— I don't know what I would do. This is a very— it's, you know, putting myself on the spot. Well, let's see. No wife, no kids, no car. Be an interesting question. You know, it's very hard to judge though. You know my favorite story? Absolute all-time favorite of my life.

What?

On that you can't, you just, we all do, but it's very hard to read perfectly accurately. It's in fact, it's impossible. I was standing with my wife at a corner in Hollywood, California, waiting for friends to pick us up to go to the Hollywood Bowl. Hollywood's not the world's greatest area, so you have to understand the context. We're standing there and so is a guy who's about 20 years old. And he is fully tattooed. I mean, seriously tattooed, and with many rings in the facial area. And where there were no rings, there were holes available for rings. And he had a tough look on him. And I was wary. Walks over to me, says, are you Dennis Prager? And I remember thinking, why don't I just say, you know, geez, I'm often confused with this guy, but, you know, I'm not. But I decided, well, I'm going to say yes, I am. And then he says, God, I love you. Oh man, I listen to your show every day. You're the greatest. And it was a humbling moment.

It was.

It was a humbling experience. So it's very hard to read in either direction. And there are, you know, totally— wasn't Ted Bundy like the ultimate clean-cut American guy? And who raped and killed God knows how many women? I mean, literally God knows. We don't know the number, it is so large. So it's— but on the other hand, all things being equal, we do read into the situation. This 20-year-old did not have a wife and kids in the car. And I have to admit, you know, one tattoo is one thing, but an entire body's worth and a lot of piercings suggest other things. But maybe I'm wrong even on that. All right, I'll take the final calls. Final segment coming up. I think you need to have a very sober view of human nature, and at the same time, by and large, you trust the people you meet on a daily basis. But I don't mean to buy land in Florida. You know what I mean. Daily interactions. 1-800-PRAGER-776 is the number. 1-800-PRAGER-776. The Happiness Hour on The Dennis Prager Show. This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

Precious metals dealers come and go. This is Nick Grovich, president of Amped Coin and Bullion. We've stood the test of time since 1983. With the flurry of coin and bullion dealers coming and going, how do you know who to trust and what to buy? At AMFED Coin and Bullion, we value educated consumers. We want to alert you to good bullion buys in the market and help you steer clear of the tricks and bad deals. Call AMFED Coin and Bullion for a free coin performance review. 800-221-7694 or americanfederal.com.

Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom. And, uh, over to Dallas, And Lisa. Hello, Lisa. Dennis Prager.

Hi, it's so great to talk to you.

Thank you.

And I just wanted to say you're the first person I've ever met besides me who equates learning as a natural high. I, I feel the exact same way about that, and that's why I love your show.

Oh, that's a great compliment. I, I want people to learn. But, but I want you to know we're not alone. There are a lot of people, believe it or not, who think learning is a high. But go ahead.

Great. Well, um, my level of trust Definitely changed when I moved from Hollywood to Dallas. I am—

I said it, I said it, I said it was contextual, that society helps you determine whether you can trust.

And it's not just my environment. I mean, I did see, you know, homeless men urinating on mailboxes while they smiled and said hello to me, and crack deals going down.

Where? Where? In Hollywood? In Hollywood?

Yes.

How did they urinate on a mailbox? Were they standing on a ladder?

Just, um, you know—

I'm just trying to picture it.

He was just standing behind the mailbox smiling and saying hi, and then as I got closer, I realized what he was doing, and I'm—

Come on, that is one of the attractions of Hollywood. I don't know why you would dump on it. All right, go ahead.

But not only the region itself, but I was in the entertainment industry, and so I got so used to every single person I ever spoke to was lying to me, so I began to believed that there weren't any people in the world to trust anymore. And I've seen a completely different world.

You know, that is very interesting. I'll bet you people in the Hollywood industry have the opposite on both accounts. They believe people are basically good and trust nobody. I don't believe people are basically good and trust almost everybody.

That is interesting.

So yes, exactly. They have the opposite. It's a corrosive view of life. It's a very insightful thing. Thank you very much, Lisa. Let's go to Meir in Northridge, California, KRLA. Hi, Meir.

Hi, Dennis. How are you? Pleasure to talk to you. It has been a while since I visited your show.

Oh.

To make you understand how we helped our children to be open, when our children who were born in Israel were young, we taught them to be so friendly with everybody that they could talk with anyone in the world. But you, when you travel, I remember one time a couple years ago you were saying in the show that they checked your luggage somewhere in New Jersey, they found Washington Times, New York Times, all the newspapers, so you really are secure. But what do you tell somebody, a salesperson who travels with $200,000, $250,000 of jewelry? Would you tell, hey, can you watch my suitcase? I'm going to have a sandwich?

Oh, that's funny. That's a great challenge to me. I said that I would leave my bags with anybody at the airport, but he's right. They're filled with newspapers. I often have thought, by the way, if somebody stole my luggage, they would be so disgusted. They would have thought it was one of those fillers. Mayor, that's a good point. Next life, I'll be in the diamond industry. Chrissy, Wayne, and others whose names I don't see, I'm sorry I didn't get to you. On tomorrow's episode of Dennis Teaches the Torah. Then God said to Moses, you will soon see, or actually, now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, that with a strong arm he will, he will chase them out, and with a strong arm he will, well, Actually send them out, and with a strong heart he will kick them out, chase them out from his land. God now is saying, "And there's a Hebrew statement: "Sh'tika kehoda." It's a great Talmudic statement. Silence is agreement. I get that sometimes from callers on the radio show. Dennis, you know, one of the callers said da da da da, and you didn't take issue with. You should have. And they're right from their perspective. My saying nothing can be interpreted as agreement. And so God says nothing about Moses' attacks. In a sense, not so much agreeing that God is made evil, but there is no answer to those. Here the real answer. You will now see what I will do. You're losing— you're, you're losing faith in me.

Not—

remember, not faith that I exist. Remember, I made the distinction. There's faith that God exists and there's trust in God. You're losing trust in me. Now you will see what I will do. Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis 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.

Precious metals dealers come and go. This is Nick Grovich, president of Amped Coin and Bullion. We've stood the test of time since 1983. With the flurry of coin and bullion dealers coming and going, how do you know who to trust and what to buy? At AMFED Coin and Bullion, we value educated consumers. We want to alert you to good bullion buys in the market and help you steer clear of the tricks and bad deals. Call AMFED Coin and Bullion for a free coin performance review. 800-221-7694 or americanfederal.com.