Anthony Hopkins on Happiness

 Anthony Hopkins: Oh, I don't know. Just a sense of contentment. I'm not jumping up down all the time, but I just mosey through the day and do my painting and play piano. And I get peace when I read.

Anthony Hopkins: To me, it’s just being content with what’s right now. It’s a complete mystery, life. I don’t understand it. To quote Socrates, “I know nothing.” I really know nothing. And that’s to me happiness: to acknowledge that I know nothing. I’m insignificant. It’s all meaningless to me. And it’s a bit of fun to have a little bit of acclaim and be successful or achieve things—it’s fine. And I’m sure that if I do something else, get another job, and I do that okay, I’ll think, “Oh, good.” But finally, at the end of it all, as Mel Blanc said, “That’s all, folks!” [laughs] I don’t know what my epitaph will be. Probably something like “What the hell was that all about?”

Anthony Hopkins: I like having a cup of tea with my wife. Maybe a couple of cookies or something like that. I play the piano a lot. I paint. I play with my cat, Niblo.

Anthony Hopkins: I was in England making this film with Olivia Colman called The Father—I think that was probably the most exhilarating time I’ve had. It was a painful subject, about dementia, but they were such great people to work with. I said to Olivia one day, “Do they actually pay us to do this?” It’s a lot of fun. And yeah, if people want to take it very seriously and intensely, that’s up to them. But I’ve done all that in the past, and I think, “No, I’ll just relax.” I have learned a few tricks on the way—you know, I’m experienced in my business—all I try to spread around me is a bit of peace and respect for people’s other work, and be generous, be kind.

Anthony Hopkins: You know, years ago, I used to hang around with a lot of drinkers, like I was myself, be a complete pain in the ass to everyone. Because it’s creative, you know, it’s a badge of honor. I thought, “If I stop doing this, I won’t be able to create anymore.” Of course, it’s the biggest nonsense of all. The biggest con trick of all. Most of my friends from those days are dead now.

Anthony Hopkins: What makes me really happy is—what makes me free, I think is the best word to use—is the feeling that nothing is of that much importance. We’re pretty insignificant little dots in our vast universe. I have a saying for myself: Nothing to win, nothing to prove, nothing to win, nothing to lose, no sweat, no big deal.

https://www.gq.com/story/the-happiness-project