“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” Booker T. Washington – Happiness

Transcript

Steve Fouts: 0:03 

Hey everybody. Steve and Dan Fouts here. We’re teaching different with  American civil rights activist and author Booker T. Washington with a quote about happiness, “Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” A positive quote from Washington about how happiness can be found in how you interact with other people. Happiness is a very personal  thing, as we all know, and different people are made happy by different things. This is a quote that can get students to consider whether their happiness has to do with other people and how they treat other  people. I really like the quote. It’s simple and straightforward with a  positive message. What would you say the claim is?  

Dan Fouts: 1:02 – Claim

Giving to others makes you happy is how I would rephrase it. Some people think of happiness as something that is internal and almost selfish, but Booker T, Washington is saying that if you really want to become happy, you have to serve other people. Another way to look at this is that  your own personal happiness is a derivative of what you do for others. This is why it’s such a positive quote. It treats happiness as something that you get after you give. It’s like a reward. 

Steve Fouts: 1:47 

Yeah, and the students are going to have experiences with giving and doing things for other people and deriving enjoyment. They’re going to have those experiences to draw on, and you just need to prompt them to share and talk about how it made them feel when they uplifted someone else. It’s funny, I’ve heard certain people say that one of the reasons they help other people, and one of the reasons they give so much, is that they themselves will remain happy if everybody else around them is happy. It’s almost a selfish way to look at happiness, where you’re just making sure everybody else is taken care of so that you can be happy. But, there’s also this idea that giving to others and making them happy, produces an internal sheer enjoyment. What’s a good counterclaim against this quote?

Dan Fouts: 2:56 

I really like and agree with the claim, so it’s hard to come up with a good counterclaim. If you step back to develop a different perspective, you could say focusing on yourself and your own needs will bring you the most happiness, but that happiness does not extend to other people. It’s focused on who you are and what you want. I think there’s a good argument to be made. You need to focus on your own self – what you need, what you want, what’s healthy for you – and only then are you going  to have a sense of happiness. You can give to a lot of people, but if by doing that, you forget about yourself, can you call that happiness? It might be a fake kind of happiness, but not a true internal personal happiness. 

Steve Fouts: 4:01 

Yeah, that’s kind of the way I was approaching it. You can’t make other  people happy. That’s the lesson. I think people learn a little later in life that when you do everything you can to keep everybody positive, there are some people who just don’t want to be positive. It doesn’t matter what you do, they’re going to be a bit of a Debbie Downer. If you’re spending all of your time giving to them, trying to make them happy, you aren’t  going to be happy. You might be brought down in some cases, and not be as happy.  

Dan Fouts: 4:44

Are you saying that people might not appreciate what you’re giving to them?  

Steve Fouts: 4:49 

Yeah, or they might not be ready to receive it. You’d love to think that when you give to people that they want and appreciate it, and you’ll derive enjoyment. You’ll be happy regardless of how they react at that moment.  You have that intrinsic knowledge that you did something for somebody, but sometimes you just don’t get that appreciation, and you’re not the happiest. 

Dan Fouts: 5:19 

It would be interesting to hear the kids talk about when they focused on  themselves and developed a sense of happiness and contentment. Maybe have them compare that feeling of happiness with the feeling of  happiness they might get from giving to others. Have them compare to see what the difference is. 

Steve Fouts: 5:47 

The students are going to have all kinds of opinions on what makes them happy. You’re not going to have trouble bringing that out. 

Dan Fouts: 5:59 

We had a conversation earlier about Dr. Janice and contentment. His general point was that those who are happiest are content with the least. It would be interesting to see if the kids who agreed with the counterclaim start talking about those material things that they want, and need, that really make them happy. Where happiness is not giving to other people, but material things. 

Steve Fouts: 6:28

It’s doing the most for you. And then measuring you and maybe even competing a little bit, but having some ambition, and having some determination to be on top  or whatever, be competitive. There are different angles to take with this. But  happiness is such a rich theme that the students are going to have an opinion on.  And this has a real clear claim and counterclaim. Here’s an essential question you  can use to wrap up the conversation? How do we know when giving to others will bring us happiness? The students are considering referring to this act of giving to others, and whether or not it will fulfill what they want and will make them happy. I think it’s an important question to consider.  

Dan Fouts: 7:31 

For many kids, it will be the first time that they confront the idea that  happiness can come from giving to others.  

Steve Fouts: 7:41 

Right, it has value. If you think happiness is a focus on yourself, you can still answer that question and build some arguments in favor of that. I think the question can apply to whichever way you think about it. 

We hope you enjoyed Booker T. Washington this week. Check out our Conversation Library for other conversations and resources that make having these conversations in your classroom possible. We have another quote from Booker T. Washington on character, so make sure you check it out. Take care, everybody. We will see you soon.  

Dan Fouts: 8:30 

Alright, see you soon.