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
Success requires persistence, the ability to not give up in the face of failure. I believe that optimistic explanatory style is the key to persistence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Success comes from not giving up, even when faced with difficulties, and maintaining a positive outlook.
This quote emphasizes the importance of persistence in achieving success, highlighting that the ability to remain optimistic in the face of setbacks is crucial. Martin Seligman suggests that a positive explanatory style, where individuals interpret their challenges in a hopeful and proactive manner, fosters resilience and perseverance, ultimately leading to success.
Themes
SuccessPersistenceOptimismFailureResilience
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech at a school event, a speaker might use this quote to encourage students to keep striving despite challenges.
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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