WEBVTT - Does Being Good Make You Happy? 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:06.760 Life audio of today's episode of Timeless Wisdom. 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:14.320 Now, I have a topic today which inverts, reverses exactly. 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:18.280 It doesn't undo, it's just reverses everything I always say 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:22.240 about how we have a moral obligation to be happy, 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:27.560 right because happy people do more good. Now I'm going 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.480 to turn it all the way around one hundred and 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:32.120 eighty degrees and tell you that the opposite is also true, 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:36.360 that good people are more happy. 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:41.320 That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Welcome 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:45.640 to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Here thousands of hours 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:49.000 of Dennis's lectures, courses in classic radio programs, and to 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:55.960 purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to Dennisprager dot com. 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:58.720 You have no idea? How many of you write to 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.120 me that I should sing no idea? People stop me 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.200 in the street. I'm not kidding, And I say this 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:04.360 in Alan's presence. 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:06.360 That's right. 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:09.679 It's the Happiness Hour on the Dennis Prager Show. And 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:15.800 I welcome you special Welcome to Tom t All Right. Here 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:18.960 we go, Come on, Sean, here we go. Everybody. Alan, 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:19.520 don't listen. 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.560 It's the happy, happy, Happy, happy Hour. Yes, it is 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.880 it's the happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Hour. Hi everybody, it's 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:31.160 the Happiness Hour. Every week at this time, come hella, 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:38.000 high water, whatever it might be. We devote an hour 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:41.760 every week at this time to the subject of happiness. 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:46.720 Because happy people make the world better, and because we 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:49.160 have a moral obligation to be happy, we owe it 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:50.720 to everyone in our lives. 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:53.640 Our spouse is, our children, our parents, our friends, our 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:56.720 co workers, the person we sit next to on an airplane. 0:01:57.280 --> 0:01:59.360 You ever sit next to a person on the plane 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:04.440 who was sour or it's not a fun trip, And 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:08.000 that's a total stranger. And that's just a couple of hours. 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:12.600 So imagine somebody you have to live with or be 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:19.519 related to. Yeah, it's a very big subject. That's huge. 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:25.640 Now I have a topic today which inverts, reverses exactly. 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:29.600 It doesn't undo, it's just reverses everything I always say 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:33.880 about how we have a moral obligation to be happy, right, 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:39.000 because happy people do more good. Now I'm going to 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.080 turn it all the way around one hundred and eighty 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.840 degrees and tell you that the opposite is also true, 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:49.880 that good people are more happy. How do you like that? 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:52.799 I want you to call me if you know mean 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:56.639 spirited people and think they're happy, and I'll bet I 0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:00.440 don't get many calls because when you think think about 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.080 the people in your life, you tend I mean the 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.639 people you know best, whether it is at the office 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:12.079 or whether it is relative a relative. I won't say friend, 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.280 because if you have a mean spirited friend, you have 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:18.640 a very strange choice and friends, so I excluded that. 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:24.200 But folks, it should be self evident on a moment's 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:29.840 notice that the kinder folks that you know tend to 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:35.000 be the happier folks, and certainly, even more clearly, the 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:40.840 mean spirited ones are less happy. So how do you 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.520 like that? Not only do happy people do more good, 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.800 the people who do more good, and I don't mean 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.800 do more good on a macro level. See that's a 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:56.040 very interesting thing. In other words, they have joined a 0:03:56.120 --> 0:04:01.680 wonderful organization that raises funds for for cancer research. As 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:05.120 much as I'm for that and support it, of course 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:09.000 I am, and that is a factor in a person's goodness. 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:14.840 But I'm now talking about daily relations, where in daily 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:20.359 relations in the micro realm, in the personal realm, the 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:25.279 people who are less mean spirited are usually the ones 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:29.120 who are happier. Now there's a question of which comes first, 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:32.000 the chicken or the egg. Is it that they're happier 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:35.040 and therefore they are more good, or they are doing 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:37.920 more good they are kinder and therefore they are more happy, 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:42.920 And the answer is both both are true. In other words, 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:46.760 goodness and happiness feed each other. The happy do more good, 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:50.720 and the good are more happy. How do you like that? One? 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:53.600 Eight Praeger seven seven six is the number one eight 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:57.919 p r a Ger seven seven six. That's something for 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:00.000 people to think about when they think about how they 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:04.560 treat other people. All there is really a selfish in 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:08.480 the best sense of selfish component to treating people well. 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:14.919 How do you like that? You think you're being selfish 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:18.360 when you're selfish, and you are. But the truth is 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.960 that if you were really concerned with how much happiness 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:24.320 you will have in life, you wouldn't be so selfish. 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.880 You would treat people better. You would could be care 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:33.239 about people more as a rule. As a rule, there 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.640 are many exceptions to this rule, but as a rule, 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:41.920 you get treated back the way you treat people, and 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:45.880 that will increase your happiness by and large. If you 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:50.280 treat people decently, if you will be treated decently. And 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:52.960 if you think that you are going through life getting 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:57.360 shafted by everybody that you know, you are the kind 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:02.920 one and everybody is just treating you miserably, there is 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:08.240 something probably a little wrong in your perception. Probably it 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:11.560 is possible that you are the victim of nearly everybody 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:16.880 you know, but it is most unlikely. So I am 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:22.359 giving you today the notion that you will be happier 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.919 if you treat people better talking about you will be 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:31.240 happier if you go on a twenty six k walk 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:36.120 for breast cancer or AIDS. That may well be too. 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:42.680 I am all for macro goodness, absolutely, but I am 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:47.200 now talking about the way in which we treat people 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:53.600 in our individual life, not the not the large macro values. 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:58.080 So here's my question. Do you agree that good people 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:04.560 are happier? That's my question one eight Prager seven seven 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.080 six or do you would you say? You know what, Dennis, 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:11.720 there is really no correlation. Unfortunately, a lot of selfish 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.960 people are happy. A lot of people who treat others 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:17.800 not so great, they're happy. That has not been my 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:22.760 experience in life that by and large, the people who 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:27.040 treat other people well are happier they get they get back, 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.000 and I'll get to tell you the biggest reward, you 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:35.960 know what, the biggest reward of goodness friends, that's the 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:40.800 biggest reward. The mean spirited do not have friends. They 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:46.360 have acquaintances. They have they have friends in the sense of, 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:48.840 you know, people that they could visit perhaps or go 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:55.280 to the movies with. But uh mm mmmmm, it doesn't 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.200 work because why would you Why would anybody really be 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:02.480 able to trust you? If you're not good and without trust, 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:06.440 there really isn't friendship. Let's be honest. One eight Praguer 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.800 seven seven six one eight p R A G E 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:14.640 R seven seven six is the phone number, and let's 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:16.800 go to some of your calls here on this. Do 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:23.040 you believe that the kind to people are happier? Or 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:28.120 am I talking an ideal a sort of fantasy world. 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:33.360 We begin in Chicago and Dave, Hello, Dave, Dennis Prager. 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:35.959 Hi, Denni's a long time listener, first time call it 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:37.040 a pleasure to speak with you. 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:38.000 Thank you so much. 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.720 I just wanted to say. I think happiness is a choice. 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:48.880 And when you decide to put your treasure in someone 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:53.000 or something, your heart is going to incline towards that. 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:57.400 For example, I've been married ten years. In there times 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:01.559 where maybe the spark is not there, but if out 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:03.600 of a decision of the will that I want that 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:07.040 to change, I decide I'm going to bring my wife 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:10.440 flowers once a week for a month or something like that, 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:15.560 my heart begins to incline more towards her. And that's 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.520 a result of the decision I made to act right. 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.480 I totally agree with you. I'm a big behaviorist. My 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:26.120 motto in my lectures is the deed shapes the heart 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.240 far more than the heart shapes the deed. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:31.920 I agree. I'm a Christian, and it comes right out 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.920 of the Sermon of the Mount where Jesus says where 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.640 your treasure is, or your heart will be also right. 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.520 So here's the question here is how does this relate 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.120 though to my subject that if you're the more good 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:44.560 you are, the happier you will be. 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:49.600 Well, I think it's you asked about the chicken in 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.640 the egg. I don't think that good deeds come out 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:53.440 of being happy. 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:57.240 All they do. They do, though, they don't only come 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:00.640 out of being happy. But to Dave, let's be let's 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:05.079 talk real. Most people when something very good happens in 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.400 their lives, are far more inclined to treat people well 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:14.520 than when they are unhappy. Right, Okay, all right, So 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:18.040 that's what I'm saying. You see that it's very important 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:23.280 to be real, folks, very important. We sometimes and I'm 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.559 not saying Dave did this at all, but sometimes religious 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.240 people and I am religious, so I have no problem 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:35.760 in saying this. Sometimes religious people will will cite versus 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:40.640 and cite doctrines and cite beliefs, and they're all legitimate, 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.800 but they somehow don't think that you can be fully 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:49.559 human at the same time and look at reality, and 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.079 the reality is that happy people, not just religious people, 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:58.319 but happy people will do more good. And not all 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:01.319 religious people do more good. There are unhappy religious people. 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:03.920 I've talked about that a number of times. In fact, 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:05.680 I don't know if I've talked about that recently. We 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.600 ought to do that one more time another time, But 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:11.160 right now I'm telling you, folks, and it's worth telling 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:15.319 your kids this. If they want to be happy, they 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:17.920 have a much better chance if they treat people well 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:21.600 than if they don't. Much better chance, in fact, the 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.640 other way is impossible. The happiness hour, and the Dennis 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:25.720 Prager Show continues. 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.800 This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this. 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:41.320 Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom. 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:45.200 You're listening to the Dennis Prager Show. There is the 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:49.720 Happiness Hour. I begin almost every Happiness Hour by telling 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:53.000 you that the happy people do more good. And now 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.240 I'm telling you that the more good you are, the 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.000 happier you will be. They are both interrelated because a 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.360 lot of people wonder, gee, why do these bad people 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:02.960 have it good? That is one of the oldest questions 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.080 in humanity, from the book of Joe Bond. Why do 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:10.000 bad people prosper? Well? They may prosper in some ways, 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:15.320 but the are they happier in your life? That's my question, 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:20.200 not not looking at the newspaper, in your life, among 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.960 people you know best. Do you believe that the people 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:29.360 who are the most mean spirited towards others are just 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:31.560 as likely to be happy as the people who are 0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.720 kind toward others. That's my question to you. That's the 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.400 best way to ascertain, not in general, but from the 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:42.319 basis on the people you know one eight Prager seven 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:47.040 seven six and in Irvine, California, Hugh. Hello, Hugh, Dennis Prager, 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:48.000 Hi Dennis. 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.360 I love your show. You're the greatest unknown professor I've ever. 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.960 Had, the greatest you don't you meannown unknown in the 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:58.520 sense that you don't know me exactly? Okay, fine, okay? 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:02.400 Is this I used to be a probably twelve step 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.400 and as you know, you've probably heard of this, they 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:06.760 had the whole sacanty and make it philosophy, which you 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:08.760 know I do agree with a certain degree, But then 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.400 I've had a lot of and also Christian. I have 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:12.880 a lot of Christian friends that they're cool twelve step, 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.079 but they also say, you know, you don't want to 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:17.360 be like a whitewash tune, like one of the Pharisees, 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:19.520 you know that's all clear on the outside but full 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.160 of dead men's bones and desolation on the inside. So 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:25.079 there they have also emphasized you you need to work 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:29.400 clean yourself out on the inside and then it'll sort 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:32.920 of shape your outside behavior. And it's just one of 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:35.200 the things that's kind of kept me up at night sometimes, 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:36.719 you know, before I go to sleep, like is there 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:37.640 a more right way? 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:42.320 This is a terrific question, terrific and I and I 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:46.360 will be totally candid with you. This is one of 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:49.800 those areas where and I am, you know, one of 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:53.520 the biggest defenders and advocates of of of the Christian 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:58.599 American that that exists today. My life is devoted to 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:04.040 Judeo Christian values. But this particular idea is not my idea. 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.080 I agree with the twelve step program more than I 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:11.240 do with many of your fellow Christians on this matter, don't. 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:16.280 I don't even understand how how one goes about cleaning 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:21.040 one's insides fully because we're God didn't make us saints. 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:24.200 He made us human and our and inside of us 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:29.920 is a whole host of conflicting emotions, desires, lusts, et cetera. 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:34.040 And I am much more interested. And I think I 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:39.320 think God is. People say God God measures the heart, 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.680 and I agree with that. I think God does judge 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:45.360 the heart. But the heart of the person who was 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:50.320 wilfully doing good is a good heart. You see, the 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:55.040 very fact that you have decided to treat others well before, 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.600 so to speak, cleaning up your insides shows that your 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:02.120 insides are already very good. The very fact that you 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:07.600 want to do good, What does that say about your heart? Very? 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:10.280 Very Yeah? Very well put. 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.520 Thank you, okay, thank you? Boy? Am I happy you called? 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:17.880 I mean, I get that a lot from from religious folks, 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.560 especially Christians. To be precise here about you know this, 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:29.680 laying awake, lying, lying awake, asleep, lying asleep. Boy, that's 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:33.920 pretty bad lying asleep, I tell you, lying awake at 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.680 night and not being able to fall asleep, whether metaphorically 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:40.600 or literally, because they know that they're they're not pure inside. 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.840 There's no such thing as pure inside. It doesn't exist. 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:48.600 It's the issue is our behavior and the very fact 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:52.320 you see when when when Jesus was criticizing the Pharisees, 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:56.600 it wasn't over they're acting ethically and having impure insides. 0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:01.040 It was their acting ritually and having impure you were insides. 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:05.400 That's the difference. Jesus never said, look all the kind 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:07.960 things that you're doing, but I know inside it you 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:12.280 know you're not You're not kind. No, never, it's a misunderstanding, 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:17.480 and and and and it certainly and he certainly didn't 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.360 apply to all Pharisees. I mean that too is important. 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:24.680 But yes, there is there is an element of ritualistic 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:28.560 observance in religion that is not accompanied by goodness, and 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.920 it is disgusting, and it was. And Jesus was not 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:36.680 the first Jew to say that. Isaiah spoke, who I 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:41.640 don't need your sacrifices. If you're not good people, you 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:45.000 can keep your sacrifices. In other words, keep your rituals. 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:51.200 But never ever, ever think that your insides are more 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:56.280 important than your than your ethical, decent behavior. Never, not 0:16:56.400 --> 0:17:01.920 in God's eyes, not in human's eyes. And I'm glad 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.679 that was raised, because a lot of people are confused 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:09.200 on that matter. And again, doesn't it show how good 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:13.880 your insides are that you do want to act good? Well, 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:16.480 what does it say about you that you do fight 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:22.879 your other parts? You will never, as humans have a 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:32.520 pure inside, never never, And some of the very best 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:37.360 people on earth have a particularly impure inside which they 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:42.080 know that they have to fight. In fact, there's a 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:45.960 famous Hebrew saying that the bigger the righteous man, the 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.680 bigger his will to do bad. That a person who 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:53.080 has no will to do bad is less likely to 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:58.560 be a particularly good person. All right, one eighth Prager 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:02.439 seven seven six. Return to this matter of Remember, this 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.520 is the happiness hour, is not a theological hour. But 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.840 I'll take you I take anything. That's fine. And if 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:13.359 you feel there's a conflict, as you just heard, then 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:18.119 call in. I don't believe there's a conflict. I believe 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:21.080 that the best religion wants us to be happy, that 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.320 God wants us to be happy. In fact, I think 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.359 God considers it an insult if you walk around unhappy, 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:31.280 especially if you appear to be religious. So I go 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.680 back to my the thesis of this particular happiness hour. 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:38.320 Just as the happy do more good, those who do 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:42.359 more good are more likely to be happy. And people 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:45.000 don't think that all the time because they often think 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:51.520 that the bad are prospering. Ah, all right, let's go 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:58.639 too Alrighty Beaverton, Oregon and Gregory. Hello, Gregory, Dennis Prager, 0:18:58.920 --> 0:18:59.320 Hi there. 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.600 You know, I'm really glad to get on. It's a 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:05.240 great topic. And I think people who love people are 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:06.880 by definition happier. 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:09.359 Yeah, that's certainly true, isn't that really? 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:12.320 What you're saying, we're being nice and doing good is 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:14.879 a way of expressing love and a way of loving people, 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:17.960 and then you get more energy back and there's that 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:21.359 great balance of give and take that kind of engages 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:23.960 in like, oh this feels good. So I'm going to 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:26.400 do it more and what I'm doing is a benefit 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:28.800 to others, and then I'm getting back something that's a 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:30.959 benefit to me, which is more energy. 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.120 And that's right, that's right. 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.320 You're on the same page, so, you know, because it's 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:40.400 the network of relationships that we build in our lives 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:43.439 that really determine a lot of our happiness. When we 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:47.080 think of a favorite vacation spot or a favorite town 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:49.720 a city that we've lived in, then what we're really 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.280 usually thinking of is the nature of the relationship. 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:54.359 Yeah, the people that we were with are the people 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.719 that we love. That's exactly right. Anyway, goodness generally brings 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:00.239 back goodness to you. And you know what, and if 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:05.320 it doesn't, so it doesn't, so you'll be hurt by somebody. Okay, 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:09.920 better than wearing an armored suit back in a moment. 0:20:11.720 --> 0:20:15.120 This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this. 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:24.160 Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom. 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:26.719 All everything. 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:35.400 Too, Yeah, that's right, if you win it tongues, And 0:20:36.560 --> 0:20:39.880 I would like to know if this song alan touches 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:45.960 someone in his or her twenties as it does those 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:46.919 of us who are older. 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:51.680 I really I'm wondering if I mean, this precedes our 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:54.240 generation too. I mean, you know, he was not singing 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:57.800 when I was listening to music. But I do wonder 0:20:57.840 --> 0:20:58.840 if it's generational. 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:02.720 I don't think it's so much generational. I think though, 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:05.199 you have to have some experience in life, you have 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:08.120 to sort of have seen a lot of things. There's 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:12.320 something about Jimmy Duranty that when you get a little 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:14.880 bit older, there's a tone in. 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:18.360 His voice of that's right, the bitter sweet, Yeah. 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:20.679 The bittersweet, and you don't have a sense of bittersweet 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:21.560 until all right. 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:23.520 That's a good point. So it's not a matter of 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:26.600 what you were raised with. It's literally a matter of experience. 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:28.440 That's what I would say. 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:31.840 You're probably right one, Ad Prager seven seven six. This 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:34.760 is the happiness hour. I am making the point that 0:21:36.520 --> 0:21:42.000 isn't made often enough, and that is the one that 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:44.600 I make that's almost never made, that happy people do 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:48.720 more good that I make every week. But I am 0:21:48.720 --> 0:21:52.720 now just reversing it that the people who do more 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:57.280 good are also happier, and I am. And that's why 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:01.479 that call earlier was so important. And forgive me, I 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:04.399 just forgot do you remember the man's name. That was 0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:06.720 such a good and important call, and I treasure I'd 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:10.920 really treasure that call because he was so honest. I am, 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.359 my friends, a huge behaviorist, and I'll put this down 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:22.320 for a future happiness hour. I believe that behavior is 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:28.760 more important than feelings. I don't believe that always. In 0:22:28.840 --> 0:22:31.560 other words, I don't believe that. For example, in purely 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:38.560 religious ritual there I believe that the intent and the 0:22:39.560 --> 0:22:45.080 is also critical. But in daily life, with behavior toward humans, 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:53.840 there's no question behavior is more important than feelings. Of course, 0:22:54.960 --> 0:22:58.960 do I care? Do I care whether or not the 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:02.560 vast majority of people or you care? Okay, forget me, 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:07.160 but do any of you care whether the vast majority 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:10.280 of people you meet in daily life love you? Know 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:15.480 you care about how they treat you. I don't expect 0:23:15.480 --> 0:23:18.480 the waiter to love me. I expect the waiter to 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:26.639 treat me nicely. That's what matters to me. Behavior is 0:23:26.760 --> 0:23:30.120 so important. That's why people have lost this. This has 0:23:30.119 --> 0:23:33.159 been lost completely. That's why people say it doesn't matter 0:23:33.600 --> 0:23:38.600 how you dress when you go to church, that behavior 0:23:38.680 --> 0:23:41.960 is irrelevant. All that matters is that you are there, 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:46.240 that you have a religious heart. That you are thinking 0:23:46.280 --> 0:23:50.800 about God. God doesn't care how you dress. That we 0:23:50.920 --> 0:23:56.520 live in an anti behaviorist age where it's all your intention, 0:23:57.280 --> 0:24:02.480 not your behavior that matters. But I believe that casual 0:24:02.680 --> 0:24:06.480 dress going to church in shorts and a tank top 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:11.359 reflects some something inside of you, because you wouldn't do 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:14.400 that at the Academy Awards, would you. So what you're 0:24:14.440 --> 0:24:18.840 saying is that you will treat actors and actresses better 0:24:19.400 --> 0:24:22.080 then you will treat a house of God. That's what 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:26.360 you're saying. So I don't even I judge people by 0:24:26.400 --> 0:24:34.840 their behavior period and of issue. And so that's my 0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:40.359 argument is even if you have selfish and who doesn't 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:46.200 selfish desires, and even if you have impure insights, act good, act, 0:24:46.400 --> 0:24:50.720 treat people in your life nicely, you will be happier. 0:24:51.920 --> 0:24:55.399 That's my argument. Don't wait for a change of heart, 0:24:55.880 --> 0:25:03.480 don't alrighty, go to some of your calls here one 0:25:03.600 --> 0:25:07.280 eight prager seven seven six is eight seven seven two 0:25:07.320 --> 0:25:13.680 four to three triple seven six John in Chicago, Hi, Hi, Dennis, Hi, Hi, I. 0:25:13.640 --> 0:25:15.760 Just wanted to tell you that that song you were 0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:19.040 just playing, I'm twenty three years old and I was 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:22.240 just thinking as it was playing what a great song? 0:25:22.280 --> 0:25:23.959 You know, I was listening to the Well there you go, 0:25:24.080 --> 0:25:26.720 isn't that nice? Twenty three year old loves it. We 0:25:26.800 --> 0:25:29.160 got to get him the name. Where could he find 0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:30.720 that well? I'll let you know as soon as we 0:25:30.800 --> 0:25:33.000 come back, because we we let people know where the 0:25:33.080 --> 0:25:35.360 music is wrong. We'll be back in a moment. You're 0:25:35.400 --> 0:25:43.000 listening to the Dennis Prager Show. All right, maybe happiness 0:25:43.040 --> 0:25:46.800 are on the Dennis Prager Show. Happy people make the 0:25:46.840 --> 0:25:50.320 world more good, and the people who act more good 0:25:50.680 --> 0:25:54.480 are happier. So I'm talking about part two here that 0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:58.320 those of you who think that the mean and the 0:25:58.359 --> 0:26:03.240 selfish prosper and the good they they get their losers, 0:26:03.320 --> 0:26:07.399 or they they lose out in the happiness sweepstakes. You're wrong. 0:26:07.480 --> 0:26:11.040 They may make less money. I'll acknowledge that. I don't 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:13.800 say that if you are good you will make more money. 0:26:14.640 --> 0:26:19.080