# secret of life **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 14, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188 "2004-03-14T03:31:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grisham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@grisham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grisham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/1 "2004-03-14T03:31:24Z")
What is in your opinion the secret of life? I think that it is the small everyday things that just make you feel good. The first kiss with a SO, good cup of coffee, clean sheets on your bed, the things that just brighten your day. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/2 "2004-03-14T04:21:07Z")
42 ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/3 "2004-03-14T04:36:40Z")
Well the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. That, and a good cup of tea. ---
**Author:** ![ZoomZoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/5daacb/32.png) [@ZoomZoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZoomZoom)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/4 "2004-03-14T04:41:40Z")
whatever makes you, personally, happiest. 🙂 I think its different for everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/5 "2004-03-14T07:15:44Z")
You mean the secret to happiness? Chocolate chip cookies and a tall glass of milk. I always think, “How can anyone ever consider suicide, when that would prevent them from ever having chocolate chip cookies and milk again?” Life is chocolate chip cookies and milk. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/6 "2004-03-14T07:18:49Z")
Well, I think you can be pretty happy if you learn how to fly. The trick is to throw yourself at the ground, and miss. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/7 "2004-03-14T07:44:11Z")
Carbon. And electrons. ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/8 "2004-03-14T08:10:05Z")
If I told you, I’d have to kill you. Which, if you think about it, is pretty ironic. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/9 "2004-03-14T14:31:37Z")
The “secret” of life, as opposed to the “meaning” of life? Well, if it’s a secret, it has to be something very few people know, so it can’t be 42, or the “small things in life”, or happiness, or to please God (since His diverse groups followers certainly don’t make it much of a secret), or getting laid every Friday night. The secret of life has to be obscure, like eating caviar with mustard and pineapple juice while high on crystal meth and having sex with a two-headed elephant-lion. It has to be in a hard to reach place, like the Andromeda galaxy’s fairy godmother’s imagination’s shadow. It has to be impossible to describe in words, so !%285$%#^ and $#%#!@. When you finally grasp the secret, it has to be so profound that you spontaneously sublimate into pure energy and seep into microdimensional pores that transcend the arrow of time to eventually become your own ancestor. Yes, that means the secret of life is . ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/10 "2004-03-14T15:03:41Z")
It is being comfortable of who you are and of being in your own skin. Realizing that life is absurb, so sit back, relax, realize that everything is beyond your power and enjoy the clown show. ---
**Author:** ![grisham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@grisham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grisham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/11 "2004-03-14T18:13:50Z")
Okay so maybe you can substitute secret for meaning. And windwalker, really how did you come up with that. WOW. ---
**Author:** ![jujuju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@jujuju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jujuju)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/12 "2004-03-14T20:12:49Z")
sex. lots and lots of sex. sorry, i have a one track mind lately… ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/13 "2004-03-14T20:18:26Z")
death? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/14 "2004-03-14T20:21:11Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Well, I think you can be pretty happy if you learn how to fly. The trick is to throw yourself at the ground, and miss. 😃😃 This is very familiar to me. What’s it from? I can’t quite remember. The secret of life, as you have hinted at in the OP, is having all the elements in place - a SO, some kids, a nice house, and a good job. ---
**Author:** ![jujuju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@jujuju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jujuju)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/15 "2004-03-14T21:36:59Z")
**Lobsang,** it is from douglas adams book - i think from “the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy” oh, and don’t forget your towel. ---
**Author:** ![Roadwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Roadwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadwalker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/16 "2004-03-14T21:53:56Z")
To some, it’s owning a convertable and a lake. (_obscure Peanuts reference_ ) To me, it’s living for God. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/17 "2004-03-14T22:24:58Z")
I think that I may actually know this one. This was passed on to me by my grandmother on her deathbed. What she told me was that when it comes time to die, what you regret is not those things that you tried to do and failed, but those things that you never tried to do at all. So, I guess that the secret to life is to not be afraid to try and fail at anything. ---
**Author:** ![Macrophage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@Macrophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macrophage)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/18 "2004-03-14T23:04:06Z")
after extensive research, the secret of life is 42. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/19 "2004-03-15T02:28:02Z")
Wear Sunscreen. 😃 [http://www.bl.com/ben/things/97-graduation.html](http://www.bl.com/ben/things/97-graduation.html) ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188/20 "2004-03-15T02:56:58Z")
Whole wheat toast with battery acid on it is the secret of life. You probably think I’m crazy. That’s because you haven’t yet embraced the secret, you poor, pathetic, pitiful fools. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secret-of-life/234188.md?page=2)