# What's the secret of life? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812 "2014-03-16T02:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/1 "2014-03-16T02:52:38Z")
If you ask me, I think the secret of life is to be happy and try to improve other people’s situations if they need help. I don’t always follow my own advice. But that seems like a good enough answer to me. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/2 "2014-03-16T02:59:19Z")
Okay, smart guy, what’s the secret to being happy? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/3 "2014-03-16T03:03:10Z")
Science and technology. They will empower us and give us freedom and security we couldn’t fathom without them. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/4 "2014-03-16T03:06:53Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Okay, smart guy, what’s the secret to being happy? Well, like I said, I don’t always take my own advice, but you can strive to be happy. Though some times it’s impossible. If you’re still unhappy, see a shrink, if that’s not enough you can be medicated. Or eat better and exorcize more. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/5 "2014-03-16T03:09:28Z")
Whole grain oats. Without those, it’s really just Chex. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/6 "2014-03-16T03:39:59Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Science and technology. So wait…you’re saying the Amish and those uncontacted New Guinea tribes are a bunch of losers? :dubious: My answer for the “secret of life” is: Be yourself. Don’t waste your time trying to be anyone else. The _really tricky_ part is figuring out who yourself really is. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/7 "2014-03-16T03:48:24Z")
The secret to being happy is learning how to flip all those little switches in our brain that dish out the feel good chemicals. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/8 "2014-03-16T03:51:57Z")
The secret of life is more life. ---
**Author:** ![AnthonyElite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/9 "2014-03-16T03:54:29Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > So wait…you’re saying the Amish and those uncontacted New Guinea tribes are a bunch of losers? :dubious: > > My answer for the “secret of life” is: Be yourself. Don’t waste your time trying to be anyone else. > > The _really tricky_ part is figuring out who yourself really is. /thread Really, this is it so hard it isn’t even funny. The fucked up thing is you spend so much time thinking about what others want that by the time you start thinking about what you want you aren’t even sure anymore. I think, if there is even a secret to life, that the answer would be so unique to each individual that it would be useless for someone else. For example; for me the secret to life is to take the more difficult moral path. That might not be the same for you. It probably isn’t the real secret for me either. In fact, the idea of life being so easily summable as to be covered in a secret is laughable. **However,** if there WERE a universal secret to life I would say it is the Pareto principle [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto\_principle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle) Saving all that time is crucial. Realizing where you can minimize it on the less important stuff means more time to focus on important stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/10 "2014-03-16T04:31:34Z")
Move aggressively, fight defensively. Get right out there in the middle…and then let them come to you. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/11 "2014-03-16T05:00:54Z")
The secret of life is to never, ever try to be happy or make someone else happy. And in the name of whatever you find holy, please don’t try to have fun. You know those little stickers of Mr. Yuckface that supposedly warn children away from poison? Treat 🙂 as life’s warning sticker. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/12 "2014-03-16T05:48:48Z")
“Never make a promise, or plan. Get a little love while you can.” Chess. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/13 "2014-03-16T05:49:03Z")
I can’t tell you. It’s a secret. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/14 "2014-03-16T05:53:18Z")
Protein. It has something to do with protein. – Guy in a bar (or maybe it was the bartender) in _Cat’s Cradle_ by Kurt Vonnegut. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/15 "2014-03-16T06:37:03Z")
The secret to life? This, of course: “[COLOR=“Magenta”] **Love** [/COLOR] [COLOR=“Blue”] **Music** [/COLOR] **Wine** and **Revolution** ” 🙂 _World Love_, by Stephin Merritt ---
**Author:** ![Gateway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dbc845/32.png) [@Gateway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gateway)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/16 "2014-03-16T06:38:06Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > If you ask me, I think the secret of life is to be happy and try to improve other people’s situations if they need help. > > I don’t always follow my own advice. But that seems like a good enough answer to me. Based on my experience, the meaning of life is love. The secret, there are many, but this has to do with the particular result you are trying to achieve. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/17 "2014-03-16T08:52:16Z")
maybe you’ve heard the top 5 regrets of the dying: 1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. (career over family and self). 3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. 4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 5. I wish that I had let myself be happier. > **[Top five regrets of the dying](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying)** > > A palliative nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying. What would your biggest regret be if this was your last day of life? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/18 "2014-03-16T09:12:56Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Okay, smart guy, what’s the secret to being happy? Subscribe to [Barking Up The Wrong Tree](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/) and you will discover that there are scientifically validated answers. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/19 "2014-03-16T09:32:27Z")
“Don’t die.” - Betty White, _Late Night With David Letterman_ ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812/20 "2014-03-16T12:46:17Z")
“Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of the women.” -Conan the Barbarian [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-secret-of-life/683812.md?page=2)