I always had the uncomfortable feeling that if I wasn’t sitting in front of a computer typing, I was wasting my time – but I pushed myself to take a wider view of what was “productive.” Time spent with my family and friends was never wasted.
A blog is something that, everyday there’s a new thing and that’s part of the fun of it, you’re just constantly moving forward. A book really gives you more time to reflect and think hard on things very, very deep.
To eke out the most happiness from an experience, we must anticipate it, savor it as it unfolds, express happiness, and recall a happy memory.
The First Splendid Truth: To be happy, I need to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.
Studies show that aggressively expressing anger doesn’t relieve anger but amplifies it. On the other hand, not expressing anger often allows it to disappear without leaving ugly traces.
Flawed can be more perfect than perfection.
When you work regularly, inspiration strikes regularly.
Being taken for granted is an unpleasant but sincere form of praise. Ironically, the more reliable you are and the less you complain, the more likely you are to be taken for granted.
Act the way you WANT to feel.
I’m a creature of routine, and I hate feeling incompetent, so I avoided novelty and challenge. Making an effort to push myself in that way has brought me surprising boost.
Enthusiasm is a form of social courage.
The things that go wrong often make the best memories.
What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.
One of my Secrets of Adulthood is: Most decisions don’t require extensive research.
People in religions that teach that believers in other faiths are condemned, for example, tend to have lower life satisfaction. People who believe in heaven and hell tend to be less happy than those believe only in heaven.
September is the other January.
The most reliable predictor of not being lonely is the amount of contact with women. Time spent with men doesn’t make a difference.
What’s fun for other people may not be fun for you- and vice versa.
I have a passion for children’s literature. Young adult literature. I love it. I’ve always loved it.
Happiness comes not from having more, not from having less, but from wanting what you have.