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
Some find that very optimistic people have benign illusions about themselves. These people may think they have more control, or more skill, than they actually do. Others have found that optimistic people have a good handle on reality. The jury is still out.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Optimism can lead to either helpful illusions or a clear perception of reality.
The quote by Martin Seligman explores the dichotomy of optimism, suggesting that while some optimistic individuals may harbor unrealistic beliefs about their control and capabilities, others manage to maintain a realistic and practical outlook on life. This ambiguity highlights an ongoing debate regarding the nature of optimism and its effects on one's perception of reality and self-efficacy.
Themes
OptimismRealityPerceptionControlSelf-Awareness
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about self-improvement, one could reference this quote to discuss the balance between optimism and realism.
More from Martin Seligman
All quotes →One 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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