I'm trying to broaden the scope of positive psychology well beyond the smiley face. Happiness is just one-fifth of what human beings choose to do.
Martin SeligmanRead
It is the combination of reasonable talent and the ability to keep going in the face of defeat that leads to success.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Success arises from both talent and perseverance through challenges.
This quote emphasizes that achieving success is not solely dependent on having talent; rather, it also requires resilience and the determination to continue striving, even after facing setbacks. In the face of defeat, those who can maintain their effort and resolve are the ones who ultimately reach their goals.
Themes
SuccessPerseveranceTalentDefeatDetermination
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about achieving goals, one could start with this quote.
More from Martin Seligman
All quotes βOne of my worries about America is the epidemic of depression we've been in. One of the possibilities about that is that the 'I' gets bigger and bigger, and the 'we' gets smaller and smaller.
Martin SeligmanRead
The dirty little secret of both clinical psychology and biological psychiatry is that they have completely given up on the notion of cure.
Martin SeligmanRead
The belief that we can rely on shortcuts to happiness, joy, rapture, comfort, and ecstasy, rather than be entitled to these feelings by the exercise of personal strengths and virtues, leads to legions of people who, in the middle of great wealth, are starving spiritually.
Martin SeligmanRead
I believe psychology has done very well in working out how to understand and treat disease. But I think that is literally half-baked. If all you do is work to fix problems, to alleviate suffering, then by definition you are working to get people to zero, to neutral.
Martin SeligmanRead
The good life is using your signature strengths every day to produce authentic happiness and abundant gratification.
Martin SeligmanRead
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