What Naval Ravikant thinks about happiness
Co-founder of AngelList. Writes and podcasts at nav.al in short, aphoristic pieces on startups, wealth and judgement rather than long essays.
Everything they publish, on ppll ↗
Naval Ravikant did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Only Naval Ravikant on happiness. See everyone on happiness
10 dated positions, 2021, in their own words. Our reading of what Naval Ravikant has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsYou can achieve happiness without material comfort, and it probably would be a more lasting form of happiness. But that’s playing on hard mode.
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Their wordsGenetics is important. It goes a long way in determining strength, athletic performance and intelligence. But your genetic set point is only about half of it. And happiness, or general contentment, is much more malleable than the other things.
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Our readingHappiness is a skill you develop, like nutrition and fitness, not something you are handed.
Their wordsSo, happiness is a skill like nutrition and fitness. Happiness is a skill you identify and develop that slowly gives you results as you get better at it. It is not God-given.
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Their wordsDesire’s a contract you make to be unhappy until you get what you want.
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Their wordsIf obtaining things made us permanently happy, then the cavemen would have been miserable, and we would all be deliriously happy. Yet, net happiness per person is not going up and might even be going down. Modernity probably brings more unhappiness than the past.
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Their wordsSo happiness is returning to the state where nothing is missing in this moment.
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Their wordsBut don’t get it backwards: You’re not smart because you’re unhappy; you’re unhappy because you’re smart. You can be happy and smart—it’s just going to take more work.
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Their wordsFact check on that is: True. The happier and more peaceful you are, the less likely you are to run out and change the world. At the same time, being unhappy is very inefficient.
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Their wordsHaving a peaceful mind, being a happier person, relying less on momentary pleasure and being calmer will give you the frame of mind to make better decisions. Being happy will actually increase your effectiveness.
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Our readingThe ultimate goal is peace, not happiness.
Their wordsThe ultimate goal is not happiness, even though we use that term a lot. The goal is peace.