You Cannot Be Happy Without This | Happiness Hour

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Hi, Dennis Prager here. Well, as you know, I've been off the air since my injury in November 2024. Thank you for your prayers. Believe me, I've missed talking to you. I'm starting the Ask Me Anything episodes on the Timeless Wisdom Podcast, and I'd love to hear from you. Whether your question is about faith, morality, politics, history, relationships, happiness, or even my life, give me a call and leave a voicemail. The number is 877-243-7776. That's 877-243-7776. Please include your first name and where you're calling from. I will answer as many questions as I can on future episodes of the podcast. Obviously, I can't respond to every question, but I will listen or read every question. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for listening.

Artificial intelligence is already changing the way we work, communicate, and live. But where could it lead? That's the question behind Carbon Zero by AI pioneer and recurring guest Craig W. Stanfill. This gripping thriller combines believable technology with suspense while exploring the unintended consequences of letting machines make decisions for us. Carbon Zero is available for preorder now, and for a limited time, the Kindle edition is just $2.99. Search Carbon Zero by Craig W. Stanfill on Amazon today.

On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom, today's subject is the biggie.

Well, there are a number of contenders for the biggie, but I want to, I want to get to this one in a somewhat different way than I have in the past. What is the single most important component of happiness? Give me— come on, Sean, that was a question. It necessitates tick-tocking.

Oh God.

All right, the answer— give me the buzzer, please— is gratitude.

Gratitude.

You cannot be happy if you're not grateful. You cannot be. It's not possible.

That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. 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 happy, happy, happy, happy hour.

Yes, it is.

It's the happy, happy, happy—

Hey everybody, welcome to the Happiness Hour on the Dennis Prager Show. Whether it is lice, vermin, smiting of the firstborn, or even terrible recessions, We talk about happiness this hour of the week. Nothing stops it. Because happy people make the world better and the unhappy make it worse. And that's the way it is, my friends. Yes, it is.

Are you all singing?

Yep.

The older I get, the more I realize how true it is. I hit upon something really, really, really, really, really, really big when I realized how significant happiness is. It's not a selfish pursuit, my friends. Fun may be a selfish pursuit, but happiness is a moral obligation. I have talked about that on a number of occasions. Today's subject is the biggie. Well, there are a number of contenders for the biggie, but I want to, I want to get to this one in a somewhat different way than I have in the past. What is the single most important component of happiness? Give me— come on, Sean, that was a question. It necessitates tick-tocking.

Oh God, the most—

what, what is your answer?

My answer is joy.

All right, well, joy is related to it. Watch, you'll like this though. All right, the answer— give me the buzzer please—

is gratitude.

Gratitude.

You cannot be happy if you're not grateful. You cannot be. It's not possible. Uh, it is like, uh, it is like, uh, flying without an, an airplane or a helicopter. I mean, it's just, we can't do it. It is a necessity. The ungrateful— the less grateful you are, the more unhappy you'll be. The more grateful you are, the more happy you'll be. No matter what your circumstances, gratitude is it. Gratitude is everything. Well, nearly everything. By the way, gratitude is so big. It is not only the basis of happiness; it's the basis of goodness.

Oh wow!

If if if you can find the secret ingredient to both goodness and happiness, the two most important things in making people better, then you found a very important thing. So I want to talk to you about gratitude, especially in these tough times. Or for many, they are. Tougher than ever, and for many they are tougher than for others. That's always true, by the way. It is always true that there are tougher times for some than for others, of course. So I have a question that I would like to hear from you with regard to.

I'd like to hear your answer.

Since gratitude is so significant in happiness, I'd like to hear only, only From those of you who have, as adults— in other words, post-18 or post-21— gone from an ungrateful person to a grateful person. I've never asked for your stories here. You have to be brief, you have to be concise, but I would like you to do this so that Those who suffer from ingratitude can have living examples of the movement toward gratitude. Now, I, as you know, believe that the mind is where all of this resides. Your mind is supposed to make you happy even if your feelings are not. That's, that's right.

That's what you're supposed to do.

Mind over matter, my friends. There are people who can walk on burning coals. I am not one of them. But those who can have not defied the laws of physics. There is still a burning coal and there is still human skin on it. How do they do it? It's mind over matter. The power of the mind is staggering. And so the power of your mind to overcome a bad circumstance exists. You have to tap into it. You have to use it. The phone number is 1-800-PRAGER-776.

1-800-PRAGER-776.

That's 877-243-7776. 877-243-7776. If you have been able to go from being ungrateful to grateful, what did it? It's not easy, I assume. But let me talk to those of you who struggle with ingratitude. I hope at least you struggle. There are people who are ungrateful, and that's just the way they walk around life. And they are a curse to all those around them. But the, uh, the components of ingratitude are pretty simple. I expect more and I didn't get it, and I am a victim. If you think of yourself as a victim, then you can't be grateful, right?

I'm a victim.

By the way, there are victims. A lot of us are victims of things that we didn't do wrong. That happens to— that happens to a lot of people. I'm not denying that a person is a victim. I'm saying that even if you are legitimately a victim, walking around and having that as your primary identity is going to breed ingratitude.

That's all.

So if it's in the mind, what do you say? What— this is what you say. You have to look at life I believe in this way. I am very lucky for whatever I do have that is good.

Period.

End of issue. If you can find nothing in your life that is good, that's a problem. I can't solve that one. I don't know what can solve that one. But I want you to simply do that. I want you to, to Simply look at what your life— into what in your life is good. All of a sudden, you will be able to, to list quite a number of things. I mean, health alone should be an incredible source of, of happiness. And if it isn't, maybe you need to spend some time volunteering in hospitals. I mean that sincerely, by the way. If you, if you do not allow or are not able to have your good health be a source of gratitude to you, you should spend time in a hospital ward. You know, volunteer to visit the sick. Go to a children's oncology unit. Right? Pediatric oncology should, uh, should help you a little bit. Kids with cancer, kids, bald kids. That should be a little— I think that should be a little invigorating. In other words, this is really critical. If you, if you can't find reason to be grateful for your good health, then do this: go where there isn't good health. If you are not grateful for your material wealth, as little as it may be, Go to places on Earth, which is the great majority of places, where whatever you have renders you a king compared to those people. Spend some time in Uganda, or, or for that, you don't even have to leave the Western Hemisphere. Spend, uh, spend 2 months in Haiti. You don't have to go to Haiti. Go to the poor areas of Brazil. I mean, it doesn't matter where you go, but whatever it is that you can't find to be a source of gratitude in your life, go to where it doesn't exist, whether it is wealth or health as 2 examples. In other words, I'm not saying this as yelling at you. I'm saying this as an honest recommendation. Because it may take an awareness of not having what you have to induce the gratitude that you ought to have. Yep, that that's that's something that is intellectually compelling. Everything that we do. We have to do— not, well, some things, for some people these things come naturally, but for most of us, most of what we need to achieve in terms of our internal attitudes have to be done with our mind. So you have to will to do it. You need to will gratitude if you don't have gratitude. How do you will it? By seeing, by— if you can't make a list, and I mean it, I honestly believe you should make a list. Either in your head or on a piece of paper, what it is that I have to be grateful for. Maybe a short list, I admit that, but I can't believe you have nothing on your list. It's hard to imagine someone with nothing on that list. And if you can't find health and your material circumstances as examples, you must in fact then Get into the presence of those who have less health and less wealth. I will take your calls. I want to know, and these are the only calls I will be taking, I very rarely do this, but I have to limit it to those of you who were not grateful and then somehow as an adult, and I mean an adult at 18, 21 plus, didn't have to come when you were 50. Could have been when you were 21, because a lot of kids are not, not grateful. So this might help them. 1-800-PRAGER-776 is the number, and you're listening to the Happiness Hour on the Dennis Prager Show.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

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Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.

God, that's a great song. That is great.

That is great.

Maybe one day all I'll do for the hour on the Happiness Hour is play happy music.

I really think we should consider that.

And I want you folks—

I am going to consider that. Of course, I'll do a little talking, you know, I'll introduce each song with some story about it or something. I think we could have a lot of fun that way. Maybe we'll do it in the dog days of summer.

But I, uh, in order to do that, it would be great for you folks to send, uh, me an email if you have a, uh, a nominee for some great bumper music for the Happiness Hour.

We have great bumper music, but we alternate. And, uh, something that, you know, that just brings a smile, and the lyrics do as well. It's both music and lyrics that have to do that.

Alrighty, everybody. I'm talking to you on this Happiness Hour edition about the basic of basics, that is gratitude. And I'm asking only for callers who have gone from ingratitude to gratitude. And when you realize, and I'm telling you, you have to do it. Remember, the mind is the center of happiness, not feelings. If I teach you only one thing, and I'm, and I, and I feel funny saying if I teach you, but by golly, I am a teacher, I guess.

My, my, my first love is teaching.

And just as I love those who've taught me, I, I want to teach others. And the, the first issue here, and, and Alan, we should put this down as one of the basics: happiness is determined by your mind, not by your feelings.

You fight your feelings. Most of life is fighting feelings. I'm going to write that down. I don't think people ever think that way. Most of life is fighting feelings.

The great problem of the immaturity of the baby boomer civilization we have created is that feelings became center.

Make love, not war was an example. Just feelings. If you don't feel it, don't do it, uh, because it's inauthentic. Most of life is about fighting feelings. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have feelings. If you don't have feelings, you're, you're a computer. But you have to fight them, especially the negative ones.

Positive ones you should pickle, cultivate, grow, garden. All right, let's go, friends, let's go! And we begin in beautiful Atlanta, Georgia.

Hi, Howard.

And Michelle.

Hi, Michelle, how are you?

I am just fine.

It's, uh, spring break right now for thousands of college students. And I wanted to share a time when my spring break changed my whole attitude.

Yes.

I went hiking for a week on the Appalachian Trail, and I was very, very cold and very, very tired, and I realized that the 3 most important things in the world were dry socks, hot water, and my mother, in those— in that order.

I hope you didn't tell your mother the order.

What?

You should have—

if you ever spoke to your mother about this, you should have done Mother, then dry socks.

I know, but she realized that when you're cold and you're hungry—

All right, that's fair.

Okay.

It means the most.

Well, that's right. What you did— well, in all seriousness, Michelle, what you did is what I'm recommending. In order to feel gratitude, a lot of people have to experience the removal of what they need to be grateful for to be grateful for it.

Absolutely. And it has to be those very basic things.

Well, and— or anything, even, even non-basic. Just whatever it is, you will be grateful for. Maybe some people can be grateful for it just knowing how lucky they are to have it, and other people will have to be deprived of it for a time. That's why I said, if you're not grateful for your health, work in a hospital for a while. Volunteer in a hospital.

Well, my mother always says that every time the children make a mess, you should bless it, because sick children don't make a mess.

That's an interesting view.

Michelle, you're terrific. Thank you so much.

Have a wonderful day, Dennis. My husband says you're his rabbi.

Oh, that is so beautiful. What a great compliment. Thank you very, very much.

All right, to Anonymous, who neither wants to give his or her name or his or her city. That's fine with me.

Go ahead.

Dennis?

Hello?

Hi.

Yes. You don't want—

you don't want to give your name or your city. Okay.

Well, I'm sorry, I just don't know who's listening and that I might, you know, convey some personal information that could—

That's fine. I don't care. It's fine with me. Okay, go ahead.

I appreciate you taking my call. I feel like I live with a person who is unhappy and ungrateful, and I have always been an optimist. happy person, and I find it personally very difficult to maintain that living along someone who is generally not happy. I don't know how often you speak from your personal experience. I, I realize that you've been remarried. If you had any insight to offer as to how to maintain your own sense of happiness and gratitude when you're living alongside someone who is generally not.

All right, I certainly understand why you didn't want to give any other information.

Somebody may recognize you from that, and I appreciate that.

Well, I can't say that I will be speaking from personal experience because that would be, that would be too, too much information, as it were, about my own experience. But I can only tell you all that I have experienced enough challenges in life to be Uh, not speaking from a place of theory about happiness.

Okay, just let me leave it at that.

Now let me talk to you about what you're saying. I believe that, uh, it is a form of spousal abuse for one spouse to be regularly in bad moods that are inflicted upon the other. It's not, uh, it is not the same as being beaten, but that is not the only form of abuse that exists. When you marry, you owe it to the person who lives with you to have a cheerful disposition. You do. That is part of your debt. We do not live in an obligations-oriented society. We live in a rights-oriented society. Another, another baby boomer idiocy developed in the '60s and '70s with its narcissism in the guise of idealism. When people marry, they should think first and foremost not of their rights but of their obligations, and one of them is a cheerful disposition.

That's it.

One of them is predictability. A husband or a wife should have, in this case, the right to expect consistent decency from the other so that they do not have to walk on eggshells and so that they do not have to wonder, where did this attack from— this attack come from? And how will tomorrow be? You are allowed to be unhappy in a marriage. You are not allowed to act it and inflict it. You're listening to The Dennis Prager Show, The Happiness Hour.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

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Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

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 to face.

One girl you're everything to. That's the way it should be. Now the guy has to earn that. He has to merit it. But that's the ideal.

Yep, indeed. Hi everybody, Dennis Prager, the Happiness Hour. Since gratitude is the basis of happiness— can't be happy if you are not grateful—

I'm asking only for callers who have in fact Evolved from not grateful to grateful, how you did it so that others can have models for it.

And we go to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Leon. Leon in Cherry Hill, Dennis Prager, hi.

Hey Dennis, nice talking to you. I appreciate you taking my call.

Thank you for calling.

I married an alcoholic and a drug addict not knowing what I was getting into and was very ungrateful about my situation. And I went to a support group called Al-Anon, and they taught me 2 things. One, to make a gratitude list, and one— or the other thing is to try not to change the world, but how I look at the world. And it's made all the difference. And now I actually am thankful that I married an alcoholic because it got me to change how I think, and I'm much more, uh, spiritual, and I have much— a much better perspective. On what's important in life and what's not.

Hmm. You know, every time I hear about anybody who's— from anybody who's been to a 12-step program, I have the same exact thought. There is more wisdom in any 12-step meeting than at Yale University.

I believe you.

I mean it literally. And folks, if you think I'm picking on Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, University of Oregon, doesn't matter. Now, by the way, did you stay married to this woman?

I did.

I did.

It was a, uh, the problem wasn't with her, it was with me. Um, and it was how I, I looked at her.

And, uh—

Well, wait, well, wait a minute. I mean, if, if she was an alcoholic and a drug addict, then there were problems with her too.

Yeah, but it's not my place to judge her. You know, my place is to give unconditional love and unconditional forgiveness, and I need to learn how to be happy no matter what.

So is she— wait, is she still an addict and an alcoholic?

She's still—

I mean, you're always an alcoholic. Is she still drinking?

No, no, no, she— but it wouldn't matter. She's deserving of love and forgiveness. Um, and me not judging her about her circumstances. I, I focus on me and being the best person I can be, um, and doing what my, uh, response— taking care of my responsibilities.

All right, but I'm still curious.

I'm—

all right, all right. Well, well, yes and no. I mean, you, you deserve to be married to someone who isn't an addict. I mean, you know, that's not— it's not an unfair demand to make within marriage that your spouse is not a drug addict. I know it's not your choice what she does, but it's your choice whether or not that will be your fate for the rest of your life. I mean, if—

Well, I understand what you're saying. I'm saying it is my choice to stay with her, and I stay with her because I love her.

No, that's fine. And I, and I'm not saying you shouldn't, even though I know.

Okay. Well, God bless you. That's fine.

Anyway, the—

what you did learn from them, staying or not, what you did learn from them is that, you know, you, you can change how you look at things. You can't change things. That's, that's what I meant when I talked about the wisdom of 12-step programs. That's right. There's very little we can change that's outside of us, folks, but how we look at things that are outside of us. That we do have control over. That's good. That's very good.

Alrighty, let's go to Sacramento, California here.

We'll just switch coasts and go to Johnny. Hi, Johnny. Dennis Prager.

Oh, hey. Nice to be with you, Dennis.

Thank you very much.

I just wanted to say that I, being a student of world politics and watching the stock market ticker to get my net self-worth, I've stopped doing this last month. I've just kind of capitulated and taken refuge in my family, friends, and the possibility of, you know, things not being as doom-filled as I felt earlier this year. You know, things I, you know, even though I wouldn't say that I think we have the perfect government or that we're, you know, even in the right position to have something that's positive out of this, I think that But the idea that you have to have Jimmy Carter before Ronald Reagan can be elected is a—

All right, well, you became grateful, and I want to talk about what you just said when we come back.

Dennis.

Dennis.

Dennis.

Dennis Prager.

Do you have a question you've always wanted to ask Dennis Prager? Well, now's your opportunity. For upcoming Ask Me Anything episodes of Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager, we're inviting you to leave Dennis a voicemail. He'll personally answer selected questions, and your question could be featured on a future episode. Whether it's about faith, morality, politics, history, relationships, happiness, or simply navigating life, Dennis would love to hear from you. Just call 877-243-7776 and leave your question. Oh, and be sure to include your first name and where you're calling from. That's 877-243-7776. While we can't feature every question, Dennis will listen to every voicemail, so call today. You may hear Dennis Prager answering your question on an upcoming episode of Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. And thanks for listening and supporting Dennis Prager.

I didn't know until my soul broke free. I've got these angels watching over me. And oh, watch me.

You're listening to the Dennis Prager Show. There was somebody who was on, I mean, it's— and then is no longer, which is totally understandable. Some people just can't wait that long. But who had said that they did make a list of things to be grateful for. I, I can't overstate— it sounds corny to those of you who are hyper-sophisticated, but all those who were hyper-sophisticated are unhappy anyway. So you might as well rethink your hyper-sophistication. And I mean this, uh, you know, I'm not here to insult you. I don't even know you. I can't insult you who are hyper-sophisticated. I'm just telling you that that's, that's happened to a lot of people. Make a list of things I'm grateful for. What is this man, silly? Where did he get that from, Ladies' Home Journal? Actually, there's probably more wisdom in Ladies' Home Journal than in many of the texts that you studied at college, but that's beside the point. Although I haven't read Ladies' Home Journal in my life. I'm just saying that. No, I'm sorry. My eyes glaze over at women's shoe stores and at the women's magazine section. By the way, women's eyes do not glaze over at the men's section.

Very easy. What a strange person.

Yes, indeed, I agree. All right, anyway, we're talking on the Happiness Hour about gratitude. That is the key, uh, the key thing to have in life. It is the root of goodness. It is the root of happiness. And, uh, I, I got grateful very early in life, partially because of my travels, partially because I, I wasn't terribly happy as a kid. And then I realized, hey, wait a minute, Wait a minute, I can't go on like this. I have to be grateful for X and Y and Z. But the travels certainly had an impact. Seeing the rest of humanity, I just— it was fascinating. Whenever I'd come back, and I've been to 90 countries now, and so a lot of the places I visited, of course, have been very poor places. And I, you know, you come to realize that's the norm in the world, that where we live in Western Europe or the United States is an aberration. Or Canada, obviously. It's an aberration. And then you just— I always remember coming home a little less materialistic. I always, whenever I came home in my 20s from my trips abroad, I would always think I needed a simpler car than I owned.

Of course, that dissipated within a few weeks, I admit it. But I'd always come home and think, you know, I really have too much of a car.

You know, this is what would happen.

All right, 1-800-PRAGER-776, and let's go to Phoenix, Arizona, and Louis. Hi, Louis, Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis, how are you?

I'm well, thank you.

I just wanted to let you know, I'll make it very brief, because I know everything you say is extremely important. I've been waiting for over a year to speak with you on the phone. I've tried numerous times, so I cannot even believe that that I have this privilege. Um, what I wanted to tell you was, is very briefly, is that at 45 years old, I was diagnosed with cancer, be it not—

Uh-huh.

The deadliest cancer, but well outside the parameters of what was supposed to be. It was testicular cancer, which people in that age bracket just don't get it. 2 doctors told me that there was nothing to worry about. It was nothing. I got a 3rd doctor. Uh, from that point on, I had to have surgery and I had cancer treatments. Up until that time, I grew up in an upper middle class household. fantastic parents. This is the second most important phone call of the week, my mother being the first. No offense to you, but, but I had to go through 28 radiation treatments. During those radiation treatments, I was privy to seeing children and, and the elderly mostly.

That's right.

I, I was, I was heartbroken. It was devastating to me. Now, be it— I'm not— I may not be the happiest person on earth, but at that— from that point on, I was much more grateful for things that I had What I had obtained in my life, be it small or be it big.

Louis, I love you.

I do.

And I don't want to mislead you and make you think I'm the happiest person on earth.

No, no, no, no, you're not.

I got—

anyway, you had testicular cancer and 28 radiation treatments is not fun, but it made you happier because it brought you into the realization of, of what you had.

And of course, you saw these kids getting radiation treatments.

Folks, I'm not kidding. Those of you not grateful for your health should visit a—

should volunteer to do hospital work regularly. And, and that's all you need.

See, some people are grateful out of knowledge.

Some people are grateful only out of experience.

So if you need the experience, then, then obtain it. Go for it. And that is one way to do it.

And I was—

I'm dead serious about the list because everybody has reasons to be ungrateful. Everybody. Everybody is legitimately a victim of something.

Everybody.

So if gratitude is as important as I'm saying it is, it has to be cultivated. It doesn't come on its own. Nothing comes on its own that's good, by and large.

That's why you can't rely on feelings for happiness. That's, that's one of the major themes of the, of my whole approach to happiness. It is in the mind.

Louis, I thank you. I was the second most important call of his week to his mother was number one. On the other hand, we had the lady from Atlanta who, for whom dry socks were more important than her mother.

So I'm now third on the list. Dry socks, mom, then me.

That's not bad.

That's still not bad. All right, let's go to Huntington Beach, California, and John. Hello, John. Dennis Prager, thank you for calling.

Thank you for putting on this hour, Dennis. I think it's a huge, huge blessing to all your listeners.

Thank you. So I'm— I know it is, and I'm, I'm glad you feel that way. Go ahead.

I was at a very large conference, 20,000 people, and we're all jammed into little stadium seating. And I'm a big guy, I'm 6'3, and I'm squeezed into this seat. And it's a religious conference, and the speaker up on probably a 20-foot by 20-foot stage says, before we pray, let's get down on our knees So we can thank Almighty God. And I thought, this is ridiculous. I can't squeeze into this little seat.

You know, you—

I can barely sit, let alone flip the seat up and try and squeeze down on my knees.

All right, give us the rest of the story when we come back.

The Happiness Hour on The Dennis Prager Show.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

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Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

Alrighty, you'll forgive me, John. I'm going to finish your story for you because of the need for brevity here, because we have so little time left and I want to recoup the whole theme of this Happiness Hour. Hi everybody, Dennis Prager. John's a big man and he had this occasion of, uh, where He was told to kneel, as you heard, and, you know, he thought, I can't, I'm so big and I can't.

And then he saw people who were incapacitated and couldn't even kneel, and then saw a disabled man struggle just to be able to move, and then realized, what the hell am I complaining about?

Listen, I don't want people to rely on people having misery to be happy. That is not a good thing either. But it does give you perspective on what to be grateful for. When you realize, A, that everybody has issues. This is another theme that I have developed on the Happiness Hour.

The great Helen Telushkin line when she once said, may she rest in peace, this dear woman, the mother of my dear friend Joseph Telushkin since high school. And she said, the, you know, boys, the only happy people I know are people I don't know well. Good line, huh?

That great?

Joanne, you're going to be hooked on this show, you know. You better watch it. And the, uh, the, the wisdom of that is, is, is just immeasurable. We, uh, the people we think are happy, the people we don't know well, because we don't know what— how much pain they have had in their lives.

Everybody we know well, we know how much pain they've had.

It's only people we don't know well that we assume have had no pain. You know, like everybody else on the freeway. I always get a kick out of that imagery. You know, you're driving along and you're in pain and you look at everybody else and think, how come they have it so good?

Yes, indeed. Make that list, my friends. Make a list. And if you can't appreciate what you have, then, then it does help to see those who don't have it.

It does.

It's nothing to be ashamed of.

We all have to cultivate certain good traits in ourselves. You think they come automatically? They come, they come with birth? Life is a project. It is a project. And gratitude is a project, one of the best projects you'll ever have. Jeff says he had an auto accident that almost killed him and allowed him to appreciate life. At 38, you're a lucky man, Jeff, in both ways. Ron in Texas, after seeing images of Vietnamese who were victims and had no control, he learned to appreciate the ability to have liberty in America.

and control over his own life. Boy, do I appreciate the freedoms of this country after all my travels behind the Iron Curtain. Remember I noted that the Jay Leno Show, they couldn't even identify the Iron Curtain? Well, my friends, if you think the Happiness Hour is worthwhile, please know that we have CDs of the best, best of the Happiness Hour on CD. Call 800-225-8584. 800-225-8584. For the best of the happiness shows on CD or to download or any other way you want it. And now call on any subject under the sun: 800-225-8584.

On tomorrow's episode of Dennis Teaches the Torah: Why is Moses important?

Why, or better, we know why he's important. Why is he selected by God is what we're going to begin to find out in this chapter. But that is a powerful beginning. Sarna notes that nothing more is ever mentioned about throwing the children, the Jewish boys, into the Nile. And he says that the reason for that is, uh, the only reason it was really mentioned was to tell you, to set the stage for the story of Moses. After all, why is Moses Moses raised Egyptian if not for the fact that his mother puts him in the Nile, in the little—

well, you'll see little what in a moment.

I don't want to give you the ending of a little profound word that's used there.

Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis' 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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