PROVO, Utah — The search for happiness largely depends on the degree of righteousness individuals attain, the degree of selflessness they acquire, the amount and quality of service they render, and the inner peace which they enjoy, said President James E. Faust Sept. 14.

"The golden pathway to happiness is the selfless giving of love — the kind of love that has concern and interest and some measure of charity for every living soul," said President Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency. "Love is the direct route to the happiness which would enrich and bless our lives and the lives of others."

Speaking to more than 14,000 in the BYU Marriott Center during the university's weekly campus devotional, President Faust talked to the students about their search for happiness.

"I have concluded that since we don't always desire that which is good, having all our desires granted to us would not bring us happiness," he explained. "In fact, instant and unrestrained gratification of all our desires would be the shortest and most direct route to unhappiness. The many hours I have spent listening to the tribulations of men and women have persuaded me that happiness and unhappiness are much of our own making."

President Faust was accompanied to the devotional by his wife, Ruth. Also in attendance were Elder Merrill J. Bateman of the Seventy and BYU president, and his wife, Marilyn.

During his address, President Faust told the young adults that the more faithfully they keep the commandments of God, the happier they will be.

"Happiness is not given to us in a package that we can just open up and consume," he said. "Nobody is ever happy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Rather than thinking in terms of a day, we perhaps need to snatch happiness in little pieces, learning to recognize the elements of happiness and then treasuring them while they last."

Pleasure, continued President Faust, is often confused with happiness but is by no means synonymous with it.

"Pleasure, unlike happiness, is that which pleases us or gives us gratification. Usually, it endures for only a short time. . . . We are enticed daily to pursue worldly pleasures that may divert us from the path to happiness. But the path to true and lasting happiness is, repeating the Prophet Joseph Smith's words, 'virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness and keeping all the commandments of God.' "

Quoting the Russian writer Tolstoy, speaking through Pierre Bezukhov in War and Peace, President Faust explained that unhappiness comes from superfluity. "So often we find ourselves striving for the superfluity. We are not content with what we have and think that happiness comes from having more or acquiring more or being more. We look for happiness but go in the wrong direction to find it."

President Faust then related the story of Ali Hafed, a wealthy ancient Persian who sold his land to search in distant nations for diamonds — ultimately finding himself in rags and wretchedness. Meanwhile the man who purchased Ali's farm found the most valuable diamond mines in the history of the ancient world on the property Ali once owned.

"Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own cellar, or anywhere in his own fields, rather than traveling in strange lands where he eventually faced starvation and ruin, he would have had acres of diamonds," explained President Faust.

"We feel only pity for Ali Hafed as we picture his wandering homeless and friendless farther and farther away from the happiness he thought he would find in digging up diamonds in the far-off place. Yet how many times do we look for our happiness at a distance in space or time rather than right now, in our own homes, with our own families and friends?"

He continued that the Savior taught mankind to seek the inner peace which taps the innate happiness in the human soul. "He said, '. . . my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' " (John 14:27.)

President Faust told the students that the inner peace spoken of by the Savior will seem elusive when they are preoccupied with things they have or things they wish they had.

"The odyssey to happiness lies in the dimension of the heart. Such a journey is made on stepping-stones of selflessness, wisdom, contentment and faith. Then enemies of progress and fulfillment are such things as self-doubt, a poor self-image, self-pity, bitterness and despair. By substituting simple faith and humility for these enemies we can move rapidly in our search for happiness."

One problem today, continued President Faust, is that many people try to "consume" happiness rather than "generate" it. Happiness, he added, will multiply and divide as it is shared with others.

The relationship of money to happiness is at best questionable, he continued. "Henrich Gibson reminds us, 'Money may buy the husk of many things, but not the kernel. It brings food, but not the appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintances, but not friends; servants, but not faithfulness; days of joy, but not peace or happiness."

President Faust noted that some of the students present may have detoured from the road to peace and happiness through transgression. "With all my heart I urge you to begin the process of clearing up any problem so that you may again enjoy a quiet and a peaceful conscience. "

Love, concluded President Faust, is the direct route to happiness. It means, he added, that one must even show love to their enemies. "In so doing you will be fulfilling the great commandment to love God Himself and to enjoy His love. You will soar above the ill winds that blow, above the sordid, the self-defeating and the bitter.

"You have the promise that 'your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.' (D&C 88:67.)"