Elder Quentin L. Cook on finding happiness and peace in life

Elder Quentin L. Cook (b. 1940) was called as a Seventy in 1996, then as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 2007.

"People all over the world are seeking permanent happiness. The prominent magazine The Economist, in its holiday double issue, featured 'happiness' on its cover and as its lead story. In one article it noted that increased national economic success had not increased happiness. 'Happiness... has hardly changed over 50 years.... Rich countries do not get happier as they get richer.' ('Economics Discovers Its Feelings,' The Economist, 23 December 2006, p. 34.)

"Happiness has little to do with material wealth. Nor does permanent happiness come from entertainment or fun and games. Instead of being diversions from an otherwise productive life, these pursuits have become all-consuming to many people.

"The lead article on happiness in The Economist quoted Adam Smith, the father of capitalism, as questioning: 'How many people ruin themselves by laying out money on trinkets of frivolous utility?' ('Happiness (and How to Measure It),' The Economist, 13)

"Unfortunately, much of what is available today is not just frivolous but also morally reprehensible.

"Contrast this with those who [confront life] with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

"We all face problems and challenges. The rain falls on the just and the unjust, but those who accept the gospel and live righteously have a wonderful promise in D&C 59:23: 'But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.'

"Peace in this life does not come from merely pursuing worldly objectives. Eternal life, especially exaltation, does not come from pursuing merely worldly objectives."

- Quentin L. Cook, "Be a Missionary All Your Life," BYU Devotional, March 13, 2007
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The eternal search for happiness!  Elder Cook reminds us, supported by evidence published in a national magazine, that "permanent happiness" is not really linked to financial prosperity, nor to pleasure-seeking in entertainment and games. He warns us that so much of what our society seeks in the quest for happiness is "not just frivolous but also morally reprehensible."

Instead, the Gospel's plan is to confront life with humility and a sense of dependence on God. That's where happiness will truly originate, and not from the pursuit of "worldly" success:

Rain falls on all of us; there will be challenges and difficulties. But there are wonderful promises for those who do "the works of righteousness" in this life!

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2022)
May 20, 2016