Dennis Prager Show - The Happiness Secret No One Wants to Admit
Aired: 2026-04-10
Duration: 39:33


=== Goodness Brings Happiness (15:20) ===

[00:00:00]  Is losing weight getting harder as you get older?
[00:00:02]  It's not your fault.
[00:00:02]  You're eating better, you're moving more, but your body isn't responding anymore.
[00:00:06]  At PhD Weight Loss, they help people identify what's actually blocking fat loss and help increase your lifespan.
[00:00:11]  If you want to understand why your body isn't cooperating, call PhD Weight Loss now and book your consultation at 864 644 1900.
[00:00:19]  Mention Dennis Prager and you get two weeks free in the program, and they'll pay for your food.
[00:00:24]  That's a $1,500 value absolutely free.
[00:00:27]  Call 864 644 1900.
[00:00:30]  Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.
[00:00:34]  Hear thousands of hours of Dennis' lectures, courses, and classic radio programs.
[00:00:38]  And to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to DennisPrager.com.
[00:00:49]  Episode of Timeless Wisdom.
[00:00:52]  As a rule, as a rule, there are many exceptions to this rule, but as a rule, you get treated back the way you treat people.
[00:01:03]  And that will increase your happiness.
[00:01:06]  By and large, if you treat people decently, you will be treated decently.
[00:01:12]  And if you think that you are going through life getting shafted by everybody, there is something probably a little wrong in your perception.
[00:01:21]  That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.
[00:01:25]  And it starts right now.
[00:01:27]  You have no idea how many of you write to me that I should sing.
[00:01:30]  You have no idea.
[00:01:31]  People stop me in the street.
[00:01:32]  I'm not kidding.
[00:01:33]  And I say this in Alan's presence.
[00:01:36]  That's right.
[00:01:38]  Well, it's the happiness hour on the Dennis Prager Show, and I welcome you.
[00:01:43]  Special welcome to Tom T. All right, here we go.
[00:01:46]  Come on, Sean.
[00:01:47]  Here we go, everybody.
[00:01:49]  Alan, don't listen.
[00:01:52]  It's the happy, happy, happy hour.
[00:01:54]  Yes, it is.
[00:01:55]  It's the happy, happy, happy, happy hour.
[00:01:58]  Hi, everybody.
[00:01:59]  It's the happiness hour.
[00:02:00]  Every week at this time, come hella high water.
[00:02:06]  Whatever it might be, we devote an hour every week at this time to the subject of happiness.
[00:02:13]  Because happy people make the world better.
[00:02:16]  And because we have a moral obligation to be happy, we owe it to everyone in our lives our spouses, our children, our parents, our friends, our co workers, the person we sit next to on an airplane.
[00:02:28]  You ever sit next to a person on the plane who was sour?
[00:02:31]  It's not a fun trip.
[00:02:34]  And that's a total stranger, and that's just a couple of hours.
[00:02:39]  So imagine somebody you have to live with or be related to.
[00:02:46]  Yeah, it's a very big subject.
[00:02:48]  It's huge.
[00:02:50]  Now, I have a topic today which inverts, reverses exactly.
[00:02:56]  It doesn't undo, it just reverses.
[00:02:59]  Everything I always say about how we have a moral obligation to be happy, right?
[00:03:05]  Because happy people do more good.
[00:03:08]  Now I'm going to turn it all the way around 180 degrees and tell you that the opposite is also true.
[00:03:15]  That good people are more happy.
[00:03:20]  How do you like that?
[00:03:21]  I want you to call me if you know mean spirited people and think they're happy.
[00:03:26]  And I'll bet I don't get many calls.
[00:03:29]  Because when you think about the people in your life, you tend, I mean, the people you know best, whether it is at the office or whether it is a relative.
[00:03:41]  I won't say friend, because if you have a mean-spirited friend, you have a very strange choice in friends.
[00:03:47]  So I excluded that.
[00:03:51]  But, folks, it should be self evident on a moment's notice that the kinder folks that you know tend to be the happier folks.
[00:04:03]  And certainly, even more clearly, the mean spirited ones are less happy.
[00:04:11]  So, how do you like that?
[00:04:12]  Not only do happy people do more good, the people who do more good, and I don't mean do more good on a macro level.
[00:04:21]  See, that's a very interesting thing.
[00:04:23]  In other words, They have joined a wonderful organization that raises funds for cancer research.
[00:04:32]  As much as I'm for that and support it, of course I am.
[00:04:37]  And that is a factor in a person's goodness.
[00:04:39]  But I'm now talking about daily relations, where in daily relations, in the micro realm, in the personal realm, the people who are less mean spirited are usually the ones who are happier.
[00:04:57]  Now, There's a question of which comes first, the chicken or the egg.
[00:05:01]  Is it that they're happier and therefore they are more good?
[00:05:04]  Or they do more good, they are kinder, and therefore they are more happy?
[00:05:08]  And the answer is both.
[00:05:12]  Both are true.
[00:05:13]  In other words, goodness and happiness feed each other.
[00:05:16]  The happy do more good, and the good are more happy.
[00:05:19]  How do you like that?
[00:05:21]  18 Prager 776 is the number.
[00:05:23]  18 PRAGER 776.
[00:05:27]  That's something for people to think about when they think about how they treat other people.
[00:05:33]  There is really a selfish, in the best sense of selfish, component to treating people well.
[00:05:40]  How do you like that?
[00:05:44]  You think you're being selfish when you're selfish, and you are.
[00:05:48]  But the truth is that if you were really concerned with how much happiness you will have in life, you wouldn't be so selfish.
[00:05:55]  You would treat people better, you would care about people more.
[00:06:01]  As a rule, as a rule, there are many exceptions to this rule, but as a rule, you get treated back the way you treat people.
[00:06:12]  And that will increase your happiness.
[00:06:15]  By and large, if you treat people decently, you will be treated decently.
[00:06:21]  And if you think that you are going through life getting shafted by everybody, that you are the kind one and everybody is just treating you miserably, there is something probably a little wrong in your perception.
[00:06:37]  Probably.
[00:06:39]  It's possible that you are the victim of nearly everybody you know, but it is most unlikely.
[00:06:47]  So, I am giving you today the notion that you will be happier if you treat people better.
[00:06:55]  I'm not talking about you will be happier if you go on a 26K walk for breast cancer or AIDS.
[00:07:05]  That may well be too.
[00:07:07]  I am all for macro goodness.
[00:07:10]  Absolutely.
[00:07:12]  But I am now talking about the way in which we treat people in our individual lives, not the large.
[00:07:22]  Macro values.
[00:07:24]  So here's my question.
[00:07:26]  Do you agree that good people are happier?
[00:07:31]  That's my question.
[00:07:34]  1 8 Prager 776.
[00:07:35]  Or would you say, you know what?
[00:07:38]  Dennis, there is really no correlation, unfortunately.
[00:07:41]  A lot of selfish people are happy.
[00:07:44]  A lot of people who treat others not so great, they're happy.
[00:07:47]  That has not been my experience in life.
[00:07:51]  That by and large, the people who treat other people well are happy.
[00:07:55]  Are happier, they get back.
[00:07:58]  And I'll tell you the biggest reward.
[00:08:00]  You know what the biggest reward of goodness?
[00:08:03]  Friends.
[00:08:06]  That's the biggest reward.
[00:08:09]  The mean spirited do not have friends.
[00:08:11]  They have acquaintances.
[00:08:15]  They have friends in the sense of people that they could visit perhaps or go to the movies with.
[00:08:21]  But it doesn't work because why would anybody really be able to trust?
[00:08:30]  You, if you're not good, and without trust, there really isn't friendship.
[00:08:34]  Let's be honest.
[00:08:35]  1 8 Prager 776 1 8 P R A G E R 776 is the phone number, and let's go to some of your calls here on this.
[00:08:47]  Do you believe that the kind to people are happier, or am I talking an ideal, a sort of fantasy world?
[00:08:59]  We begin in Chicago, and Dave, hello, Dave, Dennis Prager.
[00:09:04]  Hi, Dennis, long time listener, first time caller.
[00:09:06]  It's a pleasure to speak with you.
[00:09:08]  Thank you so much.
[00:09:10]  I just wanted to say I think happiness is a choice, and when you decide to put your treasure in someone or something, your heart is going to incline towards that.
[00:09:24]  For example, I've been married 10 years, and there are times where maybe the spark is not there, but if out of a decision of the will that I want that to change, I decide I'm going to.
[00:09:37]  Bring my wife flowers once a week for a month or something like that, my heart begins to incline more towards her, and that's a result of the decision I made to act.
[00:09:50]  Right.
[00:09:50]  I totally agree with you.
[00:09:51]  I'm a big behaviorist.
[00:09:53]  My motto in my lectures is the deed shapes the heart far more than the heart shapes the deed.
[00:10:00]  I agree.
[00:10:00]  I'm a Christian, and it comes right out of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
[00:10:08]  Right.
[00:10:08]  So here's the question: here is how does this relate, though, to my subject that if you're the more good you are, the happier you will be?
[00:10:18]  Well, I think you asked about the chicken and the egg.
[00:10:20]  I don't think that good deeds come out of being happy.
[00:10:24]  Oh, they do.
[00:10:25]  They do, though.
[00:10:27]  They don't only come out of being happy, but, Dave, let's talk real.
[00:10:32]  Most people, when something very good happens in their lives, are far more inclined to treat people well than when they are unhappy.
[00:10:43]  Right?
[00:10:44]  Okay, all right.
[00:10:45]  So that's what I'm saying.
[00:10:46]  You see, it's very important to be real, folks.
[00:10:50]  Very important.
[00:10:52]  Sometimes, and I'm not saying Dave did this at all, but sometimes religious people, and I am religious, so I have no problem in saying this, sometimes religious people will cite verses and cite doctrines and cite beliefs, and they're all legitimate.
[00:11:11]  But they somehow don't think that you can be fully human at the same time and look at reality.
[00:11:20]  And the reality is that happy people, not just religious people, but happy people, will do more good.
[00:11:28]  And not all religious people do more good.
[00:11:30]  There are unhappy religious people.
[00:11:32]  I've talked about that a number of times.
[00:11:34]  In fact, I don't know if I've talked about that recently.
[00:11:36]  We ought to do that one more time, another time.
[00:11:39]  But right now, I'm telling you folks, and it's worth telling your kids this if they want to be happy, they have a much better chance if they treat people well than if they don't.
[00:11:50]  Much better chance.
[00:11:51]  In fact, the other way is impossible.
[00:11:54]  The Happiness Hour on the Dennis Prager Show continues.
[00:11:58]  This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
[00:12:04]  Is losing weight getting harder as you get older?
[00:12:06]  It's not your fault.
[00:12:07]  You're eating better.
[00:12:08]  You're moving more.
[00:12:09]  But your body isn't responding anymore.
[00:12:11]  At PhD Weight Loss, they help people identify what's actually blocking fat loss and help increase your lifespan.
[00:12:16]  If you want to understand why your body isn't cooperating, call PhD Weight Loss now and book your consultation at 864-644-1900.
[00:12:24]  Mention Dennis Prager and you get two weeks free in the program and they'll pay for your food.
[00:12:28]  That's a $1,500 value absolutely free.
[00:12:32]  Call 864-644-1900.
[00:12:37]  Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.
[00:12:42]  You're listening to the Dennis Prager Show.
[00:12:45]  This is the Happiness Hour.
[00:12:48]  I begin almost every Happiness Hour by telling you that happy people do more good.
[00:12:53]  And now I'm telling you that the more good you are, the happier you will be.
[00:12:57]  They are both interrelated because a lot of people wonder gee, why do these bad people have it good?
[00:13:02]  That is one of the oldest questions in humanity from the book of Joe Bond.
[00:13:05]  Why do bad people prosper?
[00:13:07]  Well, they may prosper in some ways, but are they happier?
[00:13:14]  In your life, that's my question, not looking at the newspaper, in your life among people you know best, do you believe that the people who are the most mean-spirited towards others are just as likely to be happy as the people who are kind towards others?
[00:13:33]  That's my question to you.
[00:13:35]  That's the best way to ascertain.
[00:13:37]  Not in general, but from the basis of the people you know.
[00:13:42]  Prager 776 and in Irvine, California, Hugh.
[00:13:46]  Hello, Hugh, Dennis Prager.
[00:13:47]  Hi, Dennis.
[00:13:48]  I love your show.
[00:13:49]  You're the greatest unknown professor I've ever had.
[00:13:52]  The greatest.
[00:13:54]  You mean unknown in the sense that you don't know me?
[00:13:57]  Exactly.
[00:13:58]  Okay, fine.
[00:13:59]  Okay.
[00:14:00]  Well, my question is this.
[00:14:01]  I used to be a part of 12 step, and as you know, you've probably heard of this.
[00:14:05]  They had the whole fake it till you make it philosophy, which I do agree with to a certain degree.
[00:14:09]  But then I've had a lot, and also a Christian, I've had a lot of Christian friends that they're cool 12 step, but they also say, you know, You don't want to be like a whitewashed tomb, like one of the Pharisees, you know, that's all clean on the outside but full of dead man's bones and desolation on the inside.
[00:14:22]  So they have also emphasized, you know, you need to work to clean yourself out on the inside and then it'll sort of shape your outside behavior.
[00:14:32]  And it's just one of the things that's kind of kept me up at night sometimes, you know, before I go to sleep.
[00:14:37]  Like, is there a more right way?
[00:14:39]  This is a terrific question.
[00:14:41]  Terrific.
[00:14:42]  And I will be totally candid with you.
[00:14:46]  This is one of those areas where.
[00:14:49]  And I am one of the biggest defenders and advocates of the Christian American that exists today.
[00:14:58]  My life is devoted to Judeo Christian values, but this particular idea is not my idea.
[00:15:05]  I agree with the 12 step program more than I do with many of your fellow Christians on this matter.
[00:15:12]  I don't even understand how one goes about cleaning one's insides fully because.

=== No Pure Inside Exists (06:57) ===

[00:15:20]  God didn't make us saints.
[00:15:21]  He made us human, and inside of us is a whole host of conflicting emotions, desires, lusts, etc.
[00:15:31]  And I am much more interested, and I think God is.
[00:15:36]  People say God measures the heart, and I agree with that.
[00:15:41]  I think God does judge the heart.
[00:15:43]  But the heart of the person who is willfully doing good is a good heart.
[00:15:50]  You see, the very fact that you have decided to treat others well before, so to speak, cleaning up your insides shows that your insides are already very good.
[00:16:01]  The very fact that you want to do good, what does that say about your heart?
[00:16:07]  Very, very, yeah.
[00:16:10]  Very well put.
[00:16:11]  Thank you, Derek.
[00:16:12]  Okay, thank you.
[00:16:12]  Boy, am I happy you called.
[00:16:14]  I mean, I get that a lot from religious folks, especially Christians, to be precise here, about this laying awake, lying asleep.
[00:16:29]  Boy, that's pretty bad, lying asleep, I tell you.
[00:16:33]  Lying awake at night and not being able to fall asleep, whether metaphorically or literally.
[00:16:38]  Because they know that they're not pure inside.
[00:16:41]  There's no such thing as pure inside.
[00:16:43]  It doesn't exist.
[00:16:46]  The issue is our behavior.
[00:16:48]  And the very fact, you see, when Jesus was criticizing the Pharisees, it wasn't over their acting ethically and having impure insides, it was their acting ritually and having impure insides.
[00:17:02]  That's the difference.
[00:17:04]  Jesus never said, Look, all the kind things that you're doing, but I know inside it, you know, you're not kind.
[00:17:09]  No, never.
[00:17:11]  It's a misunderstanding.
[00:17:17]  And he certainly didn't apply it to all Pharisees.
[00:17:19]  I mean, that too is important.
[00:17:21]  But yes, there is an element of ritualistic observance in religion that is not accompanied by goodness, and it is disgusting.
[00:17:31]  And Jesus was not the first Jew to say that.
[00:17:35]  Isaiah spoke, I don't need your sacrifices if you're not good people.
[00:17:42]  You can keep your sacrifices, in other words, keep your rituals.
[00:17:47]  But never, ever, ever think that your insides are more important than your ethical, decent behavior.
[00:17:56]  Never.
[00:17:56]  Not in God's eyes, not in humans' eyes.
[00:18:02]  I'm glad that was raised because a lot of people are confused on that matter.
[00:18:08]  And again, doesn't it show how good your insides are that you do want to act good?
[00:18:14]  What does it say about you?
[00:18:16]  That you do fight your other parts?
[00:18:20]  You will never, as humans, have a pure inside.
[00:18:25]  Never, never.
[00:18:31]  And some of the very best people on earth have a particularly impure inside, which they know that they have to fight.
[00:18:42]  In fact, there's a famous Hebrew saying that the bigger the righteous man, the bigger his will to do bad.
[00:18:49]  That a person who has no will to do bad is less likely to be a particularly good person.
[00:18:57]  All right.
[00:18:57]  1 8 Prager 776.
[00:19:00]  So I return to this matter of remember, this is the happiness hour.
[00:19:04]  Is not a theological hour, but I'll take anything, that's fine.
[00:19:09]  And if you feel there's a conflict, as you just heard, then call in.
[00:19:16]  I don't believe there's a conflict.
[00:19:18]  I believe that the best religion wants us to be happy, that God wants us to be happy.
[00:19:24]  In fact, I think God considers it an insult if you walk around unhappy, especially if you appear to be religious.
[00:19:31]  So I go back to the thesis of this particular happiness hour.
[00:19:36]  Just as the happy do more good, those who do more good are more likely to be happy.
[00:19:42]  And people don't think that all the time because they often think that the bad are prospering.
[00:19:51]  All right, let's go to Beaverton, Oregon, and Gregory.
[00:19:57]  Hello, Gregory, Dennis Prager.
[00:19:59]  Hi there.
[00:20:00]  You know, I'm really glad to get on.
[00:20:02]  It's a great topic.
[00:20:03]  And I think people who love people are, by definition, happier.
[00:20:07]  Yeah, that's certainly true.
[00:20:09]  Isn't that really what you're saying?
[00:20:11]  Being nice and doing good is a way of expressing love and a way of loving people.
[00:20:16]  And then you get more energy back.
[00:20:17]  And there's that great balance of give and take that kind of engages then, like, oh, this feels good.
[00:20:24]  So I'm going to do it more.
[00:20:25]  And what I'm doing is a benefit to others.
[00:20:27]  And then I'm getting back something that's a benefit to me, which is more energy and a good feeling.
[00:20:33]  That's right.
[00:20:34]  That's right.
[00:20:35]  I think we're on the same page.
[00:20:36]  So, you know, because it's the network of relationships that we build in our lives that really.
[00:20:42]  Determine a lot of our happiness when we think of a favorite vacation spot or a favorite town, a city that we've lived in.
[00:20:49]  Then, what we're really usually thinking of is the nature of the relationship, yeah, the people that we were with or the people that we loved.
[00:20:55]  That's exactly right.
[00:20:56]  Anyway, goodness generally brings back goodness to you, and you know what?
[00:21:00]  And if it doesn't, so it doesn't, so you'll be hurt by somebody, okay?
[00:21:07]  Better than wearing an armored suit.
[00:21:10]  Back in a moment.
[00:21:12]  This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
[00:21:18]  Is losing weight getting harder as you get older?
[00:21:20]  It's not your fault.
[00:21:21]  You're eating better, you're moving more, but your body isn't responding anymore.
[00:21:25]  At PhD Weight Loss, they help people identify what's actually blocking fat loss and help increase your lifespan.
[00:21:30]  If you want to understand why your body isn't cooperating, call PhD Weight Loss now and book your consultation at 864-644-1900.
[00:21:38]  Mention Dennis Prager and you get two weeks free in the program, and they'll pay for your food.
[00:21:42]  That's a $1,500 value absolutely free.
[00:21:46]  Call 864-644-1900.
[00:21:50]  Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.
[00:21:54]  Yep, that's right.
[00:22:02]  I would like to know if this song, Alan, touches someone in his or her 20s as it does those of us who are older.
[00:22:13]  I really, I'm wondering if, I mean, this precedes our generation too.

=== Behavior Matters More Than Feelings (04:06) ===

[00:22:18]  I mean, he was not singing when I was listening to music, but.
[00:22:22]  I do wonder if it's generational.
[00:22:25]  I don't think it's so much generational.
[00:22:27]  I think, though, you have to have some experience in life.
[00:22:30]  You have to sort of have seen a lot of things.
[00:22:33]  There's something about Jimmy Durante that when you get a little bit older, there's a tone in his voice of.
[00:22:42]  That's right, the bittersweet.
[00:22:43]  Yeah, the bittersweet.
[00:22:44]  And you don't have a sense of bittersweet until.
[00:22:46]  All right, that's a good point.
[00:22:47]  So it's not a matter of what you were raised with, it's literally a matter of experience in life.
[00:22:53]  That's what I would say.
[00:22:53]  Yeah, you're probably right.
[00:22:55]  1-8 Prager 776, this is the happiness hour.
[00:22:58]  I am making the point that isn't made often enough, and that is the one that I make that's almost never made, that happy people do more good.
[00:23:11]  That I make every week.
[00:23:13]  But I am now just reversing it, that the people who do more good are also happier.
[00:23:20]  And I am, and that's why that call earlier was so important.
[00:23:26]  And forgive me, I just forgot.
[00:23:27]  Do you remember the man's name?
[00:23:29]  That was such a good and important call, and I treasure, I really treasure that call because he was so honest.
[00:23:35]  I am, my friends, a huge behaviorist, and I'll put this down for a future happiness hour.
[00:23:44]  I believe that behavior is more important than feelings.
[00:23:52]  I don't believe that always.
[00:23:54]  In other words, I don't believe that, for example, in purely religious ritual.
[00:23:59]  There, I believe that the intent is also critical, but in daily life with behavior toward humans, there's no question behavior is more important than feelings.
[00:24:18]  Of course.
[00:24:21]  Do I care whether or not the vast majority of people, or you care, okay, forget me.
[00:24:29]  But do any of you care whether the vast majority of people you meet in daily life love you?
[00:24:35]  No.
[00:24:36]  You care about how they treat you.
[00:24:40]  I don't expect the waiter to love me.
[00:24:42]  I expect the waiter to treat me nicely.
[00:24:47]  That's what matters to me.
[00:24:51]  Behavior is so important.
[00:24:53]  That's why people have lost this.
[00:24:55]  This has been lost completely.
[00:24:56]  That's why people say it doesn't matter how you dress when you go to church.
[00:25:03]  That behavior is irrelevant.
[00:25:05]  All that matters is that you are there, that you have a religious heart, that you are thinking about God.
[00:25:12]  God doesn't care how you dress.
[00:25:16]  We live in an anti behaviorist age where it's all your intention.
[00:25:22]  Not your behavior that matters.
[00:25:25]  But I believe that casual dress, going to church in shorts and a tank top, reflects something inside of you because you wouldn't do that at the Academy Awards, would you?
[00:25:39]  So what you're saying is that you will treat actors and actresses better than you will treat a house of God.
[00:25:47]  That's what you're saying.
[00:25:49]  So I don't even judge people by their behavior.
[00:25:53]  Period.
[00:25:53]  End of issue.
[00:25:57]  And so that's my argument: even if you have selfish, and who doesn't?
[00:26:06]  Selfish desires, and even if you have impure insides, act good, treat people in your life nicely.
[00:26:15]  You will be happier.
[00:26:17]  That's my argument.
[00:26:18]  Don't wait for a change of heart.
[00:26:21]  Don't.

=== Act Good To Become Better (03:09) ===

[00:26:24]  All righty, let's go to some of your calls here.
[00:26:27]  1 8 Prager 776 is 877 243 7776.
[00:26:34]  John in Chicago, hi.
[00:26:36]  Hi, Dennis.
[00:26:37]  Hi.
[00:26:38]  Hi, I just wanted to tell you that that song you were just playing, I'm 23 years old, and I was just thinking as it was playing, what a great song.
[00:26:47]  You know, I was listening to the.
[00:26:49]  Well, there you go.
[00:26:49]  Isn't that nice?
[00:26:50]  23 year old loves it.
[00:26:52]  We got to get him the name.
[00:26:53]  Where could he find that?
[00:26:54]  Well, I'll let you know as soon as we come back because we've let people know where the music is from.
[00:26:59]  We'll be back in a moment.
[00:27:00]  You're listening to The Dennis Prager Show.
[00:27:07]  All right, it'll be happiness hour on the Dennis Prager show.
[00:27:10]  Happy people make the world more good, and the people who act more good are happier.
[00:27:17]  So I'm talking about part two here that those of you who think that the mean and the selfish prosper and the good, they're losers or they lose out in the happiness sweepstakes, you're wrong.
[00:27:33]  They may make less money.
[00:27:34]  I'll acknowledge that.
[00:27:36]  I don't say that if you are good, you will make more money.
[00:27:40]  I say you'll be happier.
[00:27:43]  1 8 Prager 776, and let's go.
[00:27:47]  So we're going to now, where does this, so the Jimmy Duranty song, the young man in Chicago wanted to know.
[00:27:52]  What, what, what, you give me, I'll announce it on the air or what?
[00:27:56]  All right, so find it for me, I'll announce it.
[00:27:58]  All right, let's go to, is it Ita?
[00:28:03]  Isla.
[00:28:04]  I'm sorry, Isla in Los Angeles.
[00:28:07]  Dennis Prager, hi.
[00:28:08]  Hi.
[00:28:10]  I think that both can, that it can go both ways.
[00:28:13]  You know, people who are kind do the good acts, good, do, Do good deeds, but that sometimes also doing good deeds can make somebody more kind.
[00:28:21]  And there was actually a study where they took prisoners and they gave them animals and they were to care for the animals.
[00:28:29]  And through caring for them, they actually learned some of them for the first time to actually care for another living being.
[00:28:39]  And they became more kind because of that, and there were less behavioral problems.
[00:28:45]  With them as well.
[00:28:46]  So I think it can go both ways.
[00:28:49]  Yeah, it does.
[00:28:50]  And that's a behavioristic point.
[00:28:53]  In other words, they started to act good, and so they became better.
[00:28:58]  Yes.
[00:28:59]  Yeah, that's right.
[00:29:00]  We're talking happiness, but that's absolutely accurate.
[00:29:03]  By the way, I will say that it is my general belief that the treatment of animal issues goes more the other way.
[00:29:11]  That people who are cruel to animals will be cruel to people.
[00:29:16]  I find that to be truer than people who are good to animals will be good to people.
[00:29:20]  But I think in the specific case of inmates, Having to take care of an animal may help them become more orderly and all the good things that we want from an inmate.

=== Kindness Has A Deep Effect (09:51) ===

[00:29:33]  So, yeah, I'm prepared to believe that.
[00:29:35]  I thank you, Isla.
[00:29:38]  And let's go to Oak Brook, Illinois and Chris Dennis Prager.
[00:29:44]  Hi.
[00:29:45]  Hi, Dennis.
[00:29:46]  I do work for Mother Teresa's nuns here in the city.
[00:29:49]  Oh, wonderful.
[00:29:50]  Yeah, they do a soup kitchen, they want a shelter for unwed mothers.
[00:29:53]  These nuns, I mean, I'll take them to the eye doctor or whatever.
[00:29:56]  You're around them, they're constantly smiling, but it's genuine.
[00:29:59]  It's not an artificial smile.
[00:30:01]  It's a genuine smile, and they're constantly sacrificing and helping other people in the inner city.
[00:30:07]  And it's like you get more out of going there and being around these nuns than they get from you helping them.
[00:30:13]  I believe that.
[00:30:16]  I'm beyond belief that.
[00:30:17]  I am sure you are right.
[00:30:19]  Talking specifically about nuns, I remember being in Phoenix.
[00:30:23]  I have this on video because remember, I don't know, some of you who really follow my show will recall.
[00:30:29]  I had a New Year's resolution for 2005 to make a video diary of my year, and I pretty much kept it up.
[00:30:35]  And I took, therefore, my video on my lectures around the country.
[00:30:41]  And one of them was in Phoenix, and it was at a synagogue, and there were nuns who came.
[00:30:46]  And these nuns, afterwards, at the reception after the talk, they did it.
[00:30:54]  This was the nuns' order responsible for the plaques at the Grand Canyon, those little plaques that had verses from Psalms.
[00:31:03]  How great are thy works, O Lord, for example.
[00:31:06]  And I fought for those plaques after the ACLU, you know, the ACLU has an entire division to find anything that smacks of Judeo Christian values to remove them from the public sphere.
[00:31:18]  The ACLU considers this a virtue to do that.
[00:31:22]  It's twisted, but that is their view that America would be better without that plaque, that little plaque at the Grand Canyon.
[00:31:29]  It's a better country.
[00:31:31]  And I fought for those, and they got them back with the help of my.
[00:31:36]  Friends like Senator Blendew in the Arizona legislature.
[00:31:41]  We got her back there.
[00:31:44]  So they came and these nuns did a dance around me and they just radiated joy of life.
[00:31:51]  They just did.
[00:31:52]  And I feel that way within that's a Christian example.
[00:31:56]  I'll give you a Jewish example the Chabad rabbis around America who have their Chabad houses in virtually every city in the country.
[00:32:07]  And the distinguishing feature of them is their happiness, is their joyful personality.
[00:32:15]  Now, do they ever go to bed worried or depressed?
[00:32:19]  They may well.
[00:32:20]  I'm talking to you, though, about their demeanor.
[00:32:23]  And I think it has a deep effect.
[00:32:25]  I know it has a deep effect on others.
[00:32:27]  I think it has a deep effect on themselves.
[00:32:30]  Where is the verse you should serve the Lord in happiness, serve God in happiness?
[00:32:37]  Is it from the Psalms?
[00:32:43]  I don't remember where it's from.
[00:32:44]  Anyway, it's a great point.
[00:32:48]  Unhappy religious people.
[00:32:50]  You know what I say to unhappy religious people?
[00:32:51]  This is what I say to them.
[00:32:55]  Please get happy because you give God and your religion a bad name.
[00:32:58]  But if you can't get happy, please stop being religious.
[00:33:03]  Because it's a disservice.
[00:33:05]  Josh, Monument, Colorado.
[00:33:07]  Dennis Prager, hi.
[00:33:09]  Hey, how are you, Dennis?
[00:33:10]  Good, thanks.
[00:33:11]  I just was considering that song from Jamie Durante.
[00:33:15]  I'm 25, and I guess Alan had was talking about how it's more of a life experience.
[00:33:24]  Life experience, right?
[00:33:25]  Well, in my case, I think it's more.
[00:33:29]  The values I was raised with.
[00:33:32]  Because the values from that song and the period were very different from the values and songs of now.
[00:33:38]  I mean, it's just.
[00:33:39]  Wow, and you're 25 in saying that.
[00:33:41]  By the way, are you saying that Alan was wrong?
[00:33:44]  Not wrong, but.
[00:33:46]  Well, that's good because he's very hurt.
[00:33:50]  Tell him I'm sorry.
[00:33:51]  All right, I'll tell him.
[00:33:52]  I'll tell him.
[00:33:53]  Anyway, it's Sleepless in Seattle.
[00:33:55]  That's it.
[00:33:56]  The soundtrack.
[00:33:58]  Alan and Josh and everybody listening, that is one of my five Desert Island discs, the Sleepless in Seattle soundtrack.
[00:34:08]  One great love song after another, including the Jimmy Durante.
[00:34:13]  All right, we'll be back in a moment.
[00:34:14]  Final segment of the Happiness Hour.
[00:34:16]  If you want to get in, 1-8 Prager 776.
[00:34:21]  This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
[00:34:27]  Is losing weight getting harder as you get older?
[00:34:29]  It's not your fault.
[00:34:29]  You're eating better, you're moving more, but your body isn't responding anymore.
[00:34:33]  At PhD Weight Loss, they help people identify what's actually blocking fat loss and help increase your lifespan.
[00:34:39]  If you want to understand why your body isn't cooperating, call PhD Weight Loss now and book your consultation at 864-644-1900.
[00:34:47]  Mention Dennis Prager and you get two weeks free in the program, and they'll pay for your food.
[00:34:51]  That's a $1,500 value absolutely free.
[00:34:54]  Call 864-644-1900.
[00:34:55]  Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.
[00:35:05]  All righty, everybody.
[00:35:06]  Final segment of this edition of the Happiness Hour.
[00:35:11]  Don't let anybody fool you into thinking that the bad are happier, the selfish.
[00:35:16]  It's not true.
[00:35:17]  They may make more money for a while.
[00:35:19]  After all, crooks will do better for a while.
[00:35:21]  It's just the nature of things.
[00:35:23]  And the selfish may prevail in other ways, but I'll tell you what they don't have they don't have close friends.
[00:35:30]  And you can't be happy without close friends.
[00:35:32]  That's definitional, my friend.
[00:35:34]  So, my argument this hour is not only do happy people do more good, but the people who do more good.
[00:35:40]  And I don't mean just macro, I mean primarily even micro.
[00:35:44]  In other words, interpersonal relationship good.
[00:35:48]  A lot of people have unfortunately substituted macro idealism for personal decency, and that's a big problem.
[00:35:58]  All righty, let's go to David in Chicago.
[00:36:00]  David, Dennis Prager, hi.
[00:36:02]  Hi, Dennis.
[00:36:04]  I just wanted to comment on.
[00:36:07]  Well, you made a comment about it's more important to do nice things and that will change you on the inside.
[00:36:13]  Yes.
[00:36:14]  And I just, in a way, I understand what you're saying as far as when you do good things, it makes other people happier.
[00:36:25]  And it changes your insides too.
[00:36:27]  Well, that's where I kind of disagree because with the nuns, they do the good things.
[00:36:33]  And made the other guy happy.
[00:36:35]  And that's understandable because they have something that he was missing in a way, maybe, possibly for some people.
[00:36:41]  But I think if you're dealing with things on the inside, these things that make you unhappy, then they need to be addressed first, whether it's repentance or just recognizing it and trying to turn from it.
[00:36:53]  Well, how can you repent without changing your behavior?
[00:36:56]  Well, that's what I think.
[00:36:58]  If you try to just change your behavior, then it kind of, in a lot of people's lives, they live a double life.
[00:37:03]  They look like someone on the outside, but then when they go home at night and they have.
[00:37:07]  Immoral problems, or they have just other self esteem problems, whatever it is, that's still there.
[00:37:14]  Well, yeah, but it doesn't negate the good that they have done.
[00:37:18]  What would you rather them do?
[00:37:20]  Continue to do bad during the day?
[00:37:22]  No, I mean, for example, if someone's struggling with immorality.
[00:37:27]  Like what?
[00:37:29]  Like what?
[00:37:30]  Struggling with what?
[00:37:31]  Everybody struggles with immorality.
[00:37:32]  What are you referring to?
[00:37:34]  Okay, say someone is struggling with, I don't know, say someone's struggling with pornography.
[00:37:41]  Yeah.
[00:37:41]  Okay, and it's making them, that's their way of satisfying their needs.
[00:37:45]  Right.
[00:37:46]  And so they do that, but they.
[00:37:49]  Then, when it's all over and done, they're still just as sad and unhappy as before.
[00:37:54]  And going and doing something nice from somebody doesn't take that problem away.
[00:37:57]  It doesn't take that problem away, but it takes other problems away, and it still will increase their happiness.
[00:38:04]  I am not, I always say, folks, I'm not for producing saints.
[00:38:07]  I'm for producing better people.
[00:38:10]  By the way, Jerry in Long Beach, I wish he was Jimmy Durante's mailman and said he lived the message of the song.
[00:38:17]  Now, folks, call in on anything you want.
[00:38:21]  Tomorrow, on Timeless Wisdom, with Dennis Prager.
[00:38:24]  Abraham breathed his last, dying at a good, ripe age, old and contented, and he was gathered to his kin.
[00:38:34]  Now, you probably wouldn't have predicted this, but on this verse, I have the most to say in today's session.
[00:38:42]  Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.
[00:38:48]  This has been Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.
[00:38:51]  Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis' lectures, courses, and classic radio programs.
[00:38:57]  And to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles.
[00:39:04]  Is losing weight getting harder as you get older?
[00:39:07]  It's not your fault.
[00:39:07]  You're eating better, you're moving more, but your body isn't responding anymore.
[00:39:11]  At PhD Weight Loss, they help people identify what's actually blocking fat loss and help increase your lifespan.
[00:39:16]  If you want to understand why your body isn't cooperating, call PhD Weight Loss now and book your consultation at 864 644 1900.

=== Visit DennisPrager.com Today (00:08) ===

[00:39:24]  Mention Dennis Prager and you get two weeks free in the program, and they'll pay for your food.
[00:39:29]  That's a $1,500 value absolutely free.
[00:39:32]  Call 864-644-1900.