The Key to Unhappiness | 5 Minute Video
Want to be miserable, resentful, and bitter? Few people do, and yet many people are. Why? Because many people have the one primary character trait that leads to unhappiness. And you need to avoid it. Nationally syndicated talk show host Dennis Prager explains.
Donate today to PragerU! http://l.prageru.com/2eB2p0h
Joining PragerU is free! Sign up now to get all our videos as soon as they’re released. http://prageru.com/signup
Download Pragerpedia on your iPhone or Android! Thousands of sources and facts at your fingertips.
iPhone: http://l.prageru.com/2dlsnbG
Android: http://l.prageru.com/2dlsS5e
Join Prager United to get new swag every quarter, exclusive early access to our videos, and an annual TownHall phone call with Dennis Prager! http://l.prageru.com/2c9n6ys
Join PragerU’s text list to have these videos, free merchandise giveaways and breaking announcements sent directly to your phone! https://optin.mobiniti.com/prageru
Do you shop on Amazon? Click https://smile.amazon.com and a percentage of every Amazon purchase will be donated to PragerU. Same great products. Same low price. Shopping made meaningful.
VISIT PragerU! https://www.prageru.com
FOLLOW us!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prageru
Twitter: https://twitter.com/prageru
Instagram: https://instagram.com/prageru/
PragerU is on Snapchat!
JOIN PragerFORCE!
For Students: http://l.prageru.com/29SgPaX
JOIN our Educators Network! http://l.prageru.com/2c8vsff
Script:
How many times have you heard someone say they want to make a better world? It is a noble sentiment, but very hard to achieve, right?
Well, actually, it’s quite easy. All we have to do is increase just one human trait. This trait is so powerful that it alone can make people happier without working on their happiness, and make them better – and by “better,” I mean more generous, more honest, more kind, more everything good – without a single lesson in morality.
So, then, what is this one almost magical thing? Drumroll, please.
It’s gratitude.
You can’t be a happy person if you aren’t grateful, and you can’t be a good person if you aren’t grateful. Almost everything good flows from gratitude, and almost everything bad flows from ingratitude.
Let’s begin with ingratitude. Here’s a rule of life: ingratitude guarantees unhappiness. It is as simple as that. There isn’t an ungrateful happy person on Earth. And there isn’t an ungrateful good person on Earth. There are two reasons.
Reason one is victimhood. Ingratitude always leads to or comes from victimhood. Ungrateful people – by definition – think of themselves as victims. And perceiving oneself as a victim or
perceiving oneself as a member of a victim group may be the single biggest reason people hurt other people–from hurtful comments to mass murder. People who think of themselves as victims tend to believe that because they’ve been hurt by others, they can hurt others.
And the second reason ungrateful people aren’t good people is that ingratitude is always accompanied by anger. The ungrateful are angry, and angry people lash out at others. If ingratitude makes people unhappy and mean, then gratitude must make people happy and kind.
And so it does. Think of the times you have felt most grateful–were they not always accompanied by a feeling of happiness? Weren’t they also accompanied by a desire to be kinder to other people? The answer, of course, is yes. Grateful people aren’t angry and they also don’t see themselves as victims.
The problem, however–and it’s a big one, is that in America and much of the rest of the world, people are becoming less grateful. Why? Because people are constantly told that they are entitled to things they haven’t earned–what are known as “benefits” or “entitlements.” And the more things that people think they should get, the less grateful they will be for whatever they do get. And the more angry–and therefore unhappy–they will be when they don’t get them.
Here are two rules of life. Rule number one: The less you feel entitled to, the more gratitude you will feel for whatever you get and the happier you will be. Rule number two: The more you feel entitled to, the less happy you will be. That’s why, for example, children who get whatever they want are usually less happy children. We have a word for such children: spoiled. And no one thinks of a spoiled child as a happy child, and certainly not a kind one.
For the complete script, visit https://www.prageru.com/videos/key-unhappiness
source
While listening to the first part of this video about ingratitude I can't help but think about "Ilhan Omar" (not her real name by the way).
3 Things Saved Me From Suicide:
1. Gratitude
2. Family
3. Psilocybin Mushrooms
Without the Creator, there can be no genuine gratitude, especially for things like health, emotional well-being, family, etc.
I wasn't grateful that I had a better upbringing than most people I couldn't befriend with .
Tho if they could , I would be very grateful.
Thank you Dennis! Sharing your insights and wisdom means more than you'll ever know!
A friend of mine often says "if you want to become rich quick, count your blessings!" So true.
As a 20 year veteran of the U.S. military who takes zero disability although I do qualify, I am grateful for having had the chance to serve my country and having survived it. Spoiler alert, I became an Atheist very early in my military career and remain one still, 40 years later, and yes I am a happy person who doesn't insult anyone else's beliefs.
Victim culture !
5 years after this video….this sums up the reparations debate perfectly!
This goes along with one of my favorite sayings, “comparison is the thief of joy.”
JUST BE….as in Happy "slaves" in the field, and in the work place, or in a hospital paralyzed by some foreign substance, should remain HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, even if they will never become "parallelized," or NONE "saves" in a file. OR the 97% of all charged with a crime, who end up in jail! JUST be a happy, and con-TENT, and "Positive" ignore-ramsuas.
**DON'T WORRY, just be HAPPY** that your kids are not getting enough to EAT, no matter what the cause…. GRIN and BARE IT!
DO NOT COMPLAIN… if they are evicting you form your home, or "forcing you to sleep under a bridge," BE HAPPY, you and your family has the bridge to live under!
YEPPER, all that HAPPINESS will being good FORTUNE to ya soon, and hope-fooly, before you see your family "STARVE TO DEATH."
Maybe you can "BE HAPPY and DIE First," HUH, so you wont have to see your "loved ones," die of malnutrition and starvation!
NOW wouldn't that ALL be Another HAPPY EXPERIENCE?
And what ever "HE IS SMOKING" I want some!
the big old scandinavian wellfarestates with all the benefits and entitlements are consistently the happiest places on earth 🙂
I came across PragerU just a few weeks back this year in 2023. What came to my mind first was that I could have enjoyed so many things PragerU produced only if I knew about PragerU earlier. I became a little disappointed. But I realized that how ungrateful I am to complain even about such a good thing. Thank God, I changed my ATTITUDE and here I am, feeling so happy and blessed that I can enjoy a whole lot of stuff in the archives of PragerU website. Thank you PragerU!
Listening to this guy
I needed this video today. Thanks PragerU!
My grandmother used to say that appreciation is a sign of intelligence.
One man said, you can view the glass as half full or half empty
sure its cliche but it makes so much sence
This makes good sense. Looking back over 70 years I wish I would have heard this advice (and its explanations) more often.
im so grateful for my homophobic and transphobic parents
USELESS SHIT.
TLDR; Great video sentiment for personal use, but it doesn’t actually properly address (society-wide) what counts as entitlement vs what counts as basic human rights, and WHY?
There’s gotta be a line drawn in there somewhere between entitlement and basic human rights. And being grateful usually doesn’t and (if it possibly can) shouldn’t fix unhappiness born out of having those rights disrespected.
——
Higher gratefulness equaling more happiness is a welcome sentiment that’s scientifically proven, but I think the main place this logic all breaks down is when you point out basics we all seem to agree that all people are actually “entitled” to. Like respect, safety, free speech, among others. And that when they don’t have the basics they might actually become less grateful as a result. Or that it doesn’t matter that they’re grateful and happy (almost ignorantly blissful) because they shouldn’t be if that’s how badly they’re being treated. Based on the logic of this video people in totalitarian dictatorships should be more grateful because their entitlement attitude towards free speech is obviously making them angry, unhappy, and less “good” people. No wonder they’re rioting and rebelling against their governments. Bad, BAD citizens, just be grateful. 🧐 lol what?
I am happier than I have been in the past 4 years I am blessed with hope. Joe Biden said he will pardon our marijuana offenses. The only thing that concerns me is now that recreational marijuana is legal in California I am out of business.
Dennis Prager, so glad you made this video. Truly life changing.
Share this video with your friends. It could be life changing. In fact watching it will harm no one and will improve things for many. Dennis Prager you hit the nail on your head.
I so wish I could hit the like button 200 times! I would! I’ve been thinking this for years!
As a kid my mother would take every gift we were ever given until we wrote a thank you note. THEN it was ours to enjoy. What a lesson! It’s a wonderful way to teach that we aren’t entitled!
Happines can't wait. By Olafur Arnalds. Can I share share some piano?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBj8YHhpej0
Gratitude is indeed the key to happiness, but I would add hope to that. Loss of hope is depression. Hope of our future is being slowly eroded especially amongst the young.
Agreed
I'm grateful that the maker of me and all that I see let Himself be tortured to death (temporarily, as it turned out) for my sins.