When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key of life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down "happy". They told me I didn't understand the assignment and I told them they didn't understand life.
Remarks about the translation
A friend of mine once showed this quote by (as far as I know) John Lennon, and I translated it into Dutch for her and she subsequently translated it into her language. As I sent the sentence to people from other countries, they also translated it and the resulting translations have fascinated me. I'd love to see the quote in the selected/requested languages. :-)
Kiam mi estis kvinjaraÄa, mia patrino diris ĉiam al mi, ke la feliĉo estis la Ålosilo de la vivo. Kiam mi iris al la lernejo, ili demandis min, kio mi volis esti plenkreska. Mi skribis "feliĉa". Ili diris al mi, ke mi ne komprenis la taskon, kaj mi diris al ili, ke ili ne komprenis la vivon.