Will Smith Explains Why He Gave Up Pursuing Money, Women, & Drugs: ‘Ecstasy Isn’t Happiness’

Will Smith

Will Smith Explains Why He Gave Up Pursuing Money, Women, & Drugs: ‘Ecstasy Isn’t Happiness’

Oscar-winning actor Will Smith is sharing his thoughts about the key to happiness.

The entertainer opened up about giving up his desire to acquire success, money, women, and drugs to cultivate joy within himself, which he says has led to a more peaceful life.

Will Smith, 55, spoke about the matter during a recent podcast interview, stating:

“People talk about rock bottom and I coined a phrase that there’s a corresponding place, I call it ‘cliff top,’ right?…  There’s no more sex that’s going to be anything but a lateral move. There’s no more money. There’s, you know, no more success, and it’s a f***ing abyss.”

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He continued:

“And then you realize that the final frontier is getting your inner house in order, right? With no women, no drugs, with no money, with nothing, can you cultivate a joyful spirit just with you and you?…And the undertaking of that work is excruciating.”

After the interviewer asked how one comes to that point in their life, Will Smith surmised that people have to “do everything they want to do” and get it all “out of their system first,” adding:

“Just exhaust the joys of this world and you’re going to have a really, really hard night one night, and you’re going to be laying there by yourself and nothing is going to f***ing mean anything to you…And then you’ll have to detox…And then as you detox you’ll start to be able to start to look at your mind and realize the monster’s in your mind… and then you’ve got to just make peace with that, dude. And you realize that ecstasy isn’t happiness, peace is happiness, balance.”

Smith’s revelation about peace and happiness comes after The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star endured a tumultuous few years. As you may recall, at the height of the entertainer’s acting success in 2022, Smith’s career and reputation soured within the industry as many denounced support for him after he slapped Chris Rock on stage.

At the time, Chris Rock was presenting at the Oscars and made an insensitive joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Although some of his endorsements and movies were affected in the aftermath of the incident, Smith has since resumed filming most of his projects. The latest installment of his Bad Boys franchise co-starring Martin Lawrence was just released yesterday (Wednesday, June 5th).

Smith went on in the interview to credit his wife Jada Pinkett Smith for helping him through the tough times. He stated about the Girls Trip star:

“It’s funny, I was just talking about this, I have always been blessed that there has never been a time in my life when I didn’t look to the side and have a ride or die right there…Jada is one of the most gangsta ride-or-dies I’ve ever had.”

Thoughts? Leave them for us in the comments section below!

[VIA]