1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:07,320 How many times have you heard someone say they want to make a better world? 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:12,120 It is noble sentiment, but very hard to achieve, right? 3 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:15,380 Well, actually, it’s quite easy. 4 00:00:15,380 --> 00:00:20,560 All we have to do is increase just one human trait. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:26,960 This trait is so powerful that it alone can make people happier without working on their 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:32,320 happiness, and make them better – and by “better” I mean more generous, more honest, 7 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:37,580 more kind, more everything good – without a single lesson in morality. 8 00:00:37,580 --> 00:00:43,200 So, then, what is this one almost magical thing? 9 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,280 Drumroll please. 10 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,260 It’s gratitude. 11 00:00:49,260 --> 00:00:53,690 You can’t be a happy person if you aren’t grateful and you can’t be a good person 12 00:00:53,690 --> 00:00:55,700 if you aren’t grateful. 13 00:00:55,700 --> 00:01:02,260 Almost everything good flows from gratitude, and almost everything bad flows from ingratitude. 14 00:01:02,260 --> 00:01:05,100 Let’s begin with ingratitude. 15 00:01:05,100 --> 00:01:10,980 Here’s a rule of life: Ingratitude guarantees unhappiness. 16 00:01:10,980 --> 00:01:13,140 It’s as simple as that. 17 00:01:13,140 --> 00:01:17,300 There isn't an ungrateful happy person on Earth. 18 00:01:17,300 --> 00:01:21,680 And there isn't an ungrateful good person on Earth. 19 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:23,380 There are two reasons. 20 00:01:23,380 --> 00:01:25,840 Reason One is victimhood. 21 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:30,700 Ingratitude always leads to or comes from victimhood. 22 00:01:30,700 --> 00:01:35,280 Ungrateful people, by definition, think of themselves as victims. 23 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:40,280 And perceiving oneself as a victim or perceiving oneself as a member of a victim group 24 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:47,040 may be the single biggest reason people hurt other people -- from hurtful comments to mass murder. 25 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:51,200 People who think of themselves as victims tend to believe that because they have 26 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,700 been hurt by others, they can hurt others. 27 00:01:54,700 --> 00:02:00,039 And the second reason ungrateful people aren’t good people is that ingratitude is always 28 00:02:00,039 --> 00:02:02,979 accompanied by anger. 29 00:02:02,980 --> 00:02:08,320 The ungrateful are angry, and angry people lash out at others. 30 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:15,920 If ingratitude makes people unhappy and mean, then gratitude must make people happy and kind. 31 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:17,920 And so it does. 32 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:23,060 Think of the times you have felt most grateful – were they not always accompanied by a 33 00:02:23,060 --> 00:02:24,880 feeling of happiness? 34 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:29,860 Weren't they also accompanied by a desire to be kinder to other people? 35 00:02:29,860 --> 00:02:32,720 The answer, of course, is yes. 36 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:38,360 Grateful people aren't angry, and they don't see themselves as victims. 37 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:43,959 The problem, however, and it’s a big one, is that in America and much of the rest of 38 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:48,520 the world people are becoming less grateful. 39 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:49,840 Why? 40 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:55,080 Because people are constantly told that they are entitled to things they haven’t earned 41 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,800 – what are known as “benefits” or “entitlements.” 42 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:03,580 The more things that people think they should get, the less grateful they will be 43 00:03:03,580 --> 00:03:05,780 for whatever they do get. 44 00:03:05,780 --> 00:03:12,180 And the more angry – and therefore unhappy – they will be when they don't get them. 45 00:03:12,180 --> 00:03:18,540 Here’s are two rules of life: Rule number one. The less you feel entitled to, 46 00:03:18,540 --> 00:03:24,260 the more gratitude you will feel for whatever you get and the happier you will be. 47 00:03:24,260 --> 00:03:30,140 Rule number two. The more you feel entitled to, the less happy you will be. 48 00:03:30,140 --> 00:03:36,460 That’s why, for example, children who get whatever they want are usually less happy children. 49 00:03:36,460 --> 00:03:40,260 We have a word for such children – spoiled. 50 00:03:40,260 --> 00:03:47,680 And no one thinks of a spoiled child as a happy child – and certainly not a kind one. 51 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:53,240 The more that you feel that life or society owes you, the angrier you will get, 52 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,520 the less happy you will be. 53 00:03:55,520 --> 00:04:02,060 As a result, we are increasing the number of angry, unhappy, and selfish people. 54 00:04:02,060 --> 00:04:08,920 The other way we are making people unhappy, and even meaner, is by cultivating a sense of victimhood. 55 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:14,659 People are constantly told that they are victims because of their upbringing, because of past 56 00:04:14,660 --> 00:04:21,620 prejudice against their group, because of material inequality, because they are female, 57 00:04:21,620 --> 00:04:24,560 and for many other reasons. 58 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:29,820 Next time you want to assess any social policy, ask this question first: 59 00:04:29,820 --> 00:04:35,080 Will this policy increase or decrease gratitude among people? 60 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,480 You will then know whether it is something that will bring more goodness and happiness 61 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:40,840 to the world. Or less. 62 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:45,840 If I were granted one wish, it would be that all people be grateful. 63 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:50,640 Gratitude is the source of happiness, and the source of goodness; and the more good 64 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,980 people, and the more happy people there are walking around, the happier and better 65 00:04:55,980 --> 00:04:58,260 our world will be. 66 00:04:58,260 --> 00:05:03,600 If you have a way of achieving such a world without increasing gratitude, 67 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,020 let me know what it is. 68 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:07,880 I'm Dennis Prager.