Grateful Living - Brother David Steindl-Rast

Published: Nov. 15, 2021, 7:30 a.m.

Brother David, from Gratefulness.org, best known for his famous TedTalk on How Gratitude Makes Us Happy, he was also a guest on Oprah where he talked about how to be fully alive, now, on The Gratitude Podcast.  

DAVID STEINDL-RAST was born Franz Kuno Steindl-Rast on July 12, 1926, in Vienna, Austria, and spent his early years there and in a small village in the Alps.

He spent all of his teen years under the Nazi occupation, was drafted into the army, but never went to the front lines. He eventually escaped and was hidden by his mother until the occupation ended.

After the war, Franz studied art, anthropology, and psychology, receiving an MA from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and a PhD from the University of Vienna. In 1952 he followed his family who had emigrated to the United States. In 1953 he joined a newly founded Benedictine community in Elmira, NY, Mount Saviour Monastery, where he became “Brother David.”

I hope you'll enjoy the episode!