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
Optimistic people generally feel that good things will last a long time and will have a beneficial effect on everything they do. And they think that bad things are isolated: They won't last too long and won't affect other parts of life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Optimistic individuals believe that positive experiences are long-lasting and impactful, while negative experiences are temporary and isolated.
This quote by Martin Seligman highlights the mindset of optimistic people, who tend to view life through a lens that favors positivity. They expect that good experiences will have a lasting impact on their lives and the lives of others, while they perceive negative experiences as fleeting and unlikely to affect other areas of their lives. This perspective not only shapes their emotional responses but also influences their actions and overall approach to challenges.
Themes
OptimismPositivityPerspectiveMental HealthLife Challenges
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to encourage resilience in the face of adversity.
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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