Not a way to find happiness
Develops defensive power against misfortune
58 Life Stories

Essayist Taesu, who received much love for his works “1cm Diving” and “Home in Home,” has returned after two years with his new work “Adult Happiness is Quiet.”
In this new work, author Taesu talks about how to get closer to happiness in life in a more mature and wise way than in the stories he has presented so far.
To those who struggle to find happiness in new things, thrills, and places higher than others, I quietly tell them that happiness does not necessarily lie in such things, but begins with not becoming unhappy.

"The Happiness of Adults is Quiet" contains a strong and solid attitude that allows me to live my life without being shaken even in a noisy world.
Rather than running around looking for noisy and happy things, he emphasizes that we should create a day where there is nothing to cry about and nothing particularly bad happens.
It reminds us once again that only then can true happiness come to us.

The reactions of readers who read this book first were also enthusiastic.
“Whenever I feel like crying, I look for Taesu’s writing.
The author's pre-released manuscript, which was shown to over 50,000 readers on social media, was also flooded with requests to quickly publish it as a book, with many praising it, saying, "To cry enough and move on again," and "This is the first book I've wished would never end since 'Inconvenient Convenience Store.'"


Now it's your turn.
Let's read "The Happiness of Adults is Quiet" and find happiness wisely.
Some still ask with skepticism whether happiness can be found in such a quiet life, but the author answers firmly and confidently.
“Of course.”

Just live like you are now.
Living like that, but on days when it's so hard that you can't even take responsibility for any of your emotions, days when your heart is so full of other people's emotions that it feels like it's going to explode at any moment.
Let's run away to a space where there is only me.
In that quiet space, give yourself the opportunity to say this too:
“I’m not okay.” Sometimes, let’s allow ourselves the same sensitivity we give to others.
When giving up becomes a habit, you end up giving up on things you don't need to give up on.
It is you.
--- p.28 From “The more sensitive a person is, the more often he or she experiences burnout”

“You don’t know how wonderful it is not to run away from life.
Going to work every day at a station where there are no seats and giving up the barely available seat to an old lady.
You don't know how amazing a life it is to wash your face and shake off the sticky saliva your boss splashed on you every day, get up, turn on the monitor without being lazy, put on safety shoes, and open the store door.
Even if you lose the meaning of life, even if your self-esteem is crushed by someone else's success, I support you as you stand up and head back to where you belong.
Not running away is also a skill.
“You, who face life honestly, are a great person.”
--- pp.45-46 From "Not running away is also a skill"

“Hey, don’t you know what’s the most frustrating thing when you get old?” I looked at my grandmother.
“Wrinkles? No.
Money? That sounds good.
But that's not it either.
What really pisses me off is that I only ever saw myself having fun once in my life. Damn it.
Now that I'm ready to have some fun, I'm all old.
Hey, I thought he who laughs last had the best life.
But the person who smiled often had a good life.
So, don't be too frugal with your life.
I also go flower viewing every day.
Now that I think about it, laughter isn't something that accumulates like money if you put it off; it just disappears."
--- p.70 From “You are an adult from the moment you give yourself a gift”

In an age overflowing with despair, we need to believe more in the power of luck.
We must accept the obvious truth that even if we make the best choices and put in our best efforts, we may still get undesirable results.
Failure is not entirely yours.
You should also learn to be more generous in telling yourself and your loved ones, “It’s not your fault,” even if you did your best.
Not as an excuse to do nothing, but to find the courage to start over without giving up on life.
--- p.92 From “Life can fail even if you try your best”

There are people in this world who know the wrong answer so well that they can get close to the right answer.
People who are unhappy, fail, sad and depressed every day, but who know very well how to live so that they do not become like that.
I believe that is the power of denial.
You can build positivity even with negativity.
Just as if you know the wrong answer too well, you can actually find the right answer better.
Going back to the beginning, I said I wanted to die, but that wasn't true.
I just didn't want to live like this.
It just took me too long to find the positivity to break my heart that was so wrapped up in negativity.
So-called rational positivity.
You can create positivity out of negativity.
Being unhappy allows me to better explain what happiness is.
So now I would like to describe myself like this.
“I’m not negative.
“I am a reasonably positive person.”
--- pp.113-114 From "It's not that I want to die, it's that I don't want to live like this"

These days, even if I fail to achieve anything, I just laugh it off.
There is no proper period for unhappiness, and no space is left for happiness to emerge.
Sometimes I get yelled at like, “Is this the time for you to be like this?” but what can I do?
I'm so frustrated with my failure, you're telling me not to laugh? I'm just ready for the next life.
Failure is sad, but it will end today.
That's the signal I send to misfortune with laughter.
I will now laugh and buy the next one.
I failed today, but tomorrow I will start again with a smile.
--- p.148 From “The depth of misfortune does not prove its urgency”

When I was little, my grandmother said:
As I live, I realize that the hardest thing in the world is not success, but satisfaction.
Those words, which I didn't understand then, now make sense.
I wish I understood the meaning a little sooner.
When I was young, I just thought it was one of the common lullabies.
As her eyes began to close, the grandmother spoke more quietly.
“So, even if you grow taller in the future, don’t live only looking at high places.
You live looking forward and backward, not up and down.
What you have lived and what you will continue to live.
I had to turn my eyes like that to see it.
“There were so many beautiful things in my life.”
--- pp.187-188 From “A Happy Family is a Symbol of Wealth”

Sometimes people need silent comfort.
There are times when we need a deep nod that shows we understand your pain and a look in the eye that shows we truly empathize with what you're saying, far more than a few harsh words of comfort.
No, there are many.
I want to comfort my people like that now.
Rather than saying the irresponsible word “live,” I want to create a day worth living together.
--- pp.225-226 From "Sometimes, silent comfort comforts me more"

The happiness of adults is quiet.
It's closer to relief than thrill, closer to the ordinary than the special.
My life now is one where I can be happy because I can work without any problems, talk to my family without any pain, and live tomorrow without despair, even if there is no hope.
Some might ask, can one find happiness in such a quiet life? Of course.
Silence is not a state where there is nothing to laugh about, but a state where there is nothing to cry about.
Because it's not a day without happy things, but a day without bad things.
These quiet days that pass without anything happening are not blank spaces in our lives, but margins.
--- pp.228-229 From “Adult Happiness is Quiet”

On days when your heart feels like hell, when everything seems to have failed, let's put more effort into smiling, being thankful, and greeting each other.
For me.
To protect my heart.
That little gesture will send a stronger signal than any words.
Today I failed.
But despite that, I didn't break down.
I am a person who started again today.

--- p.251 From “A person’s elegance is revealed when he or she falls apart”