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
Psychology should be just as concerned with building strength as with repairing damage
Interpretation
What this quote means
Psychology should focus on enhancing positive traits as much as it does on addressing mental health issues.
This quote by Martin Seligman highlights the importance of a balanced approach in psychology, emphasizing that while it is crucial to address and repair psychological damage, a significant effort should also be directed toward fostering strengths and resilience in individuals. This perspective promotes a more holistic understanding of mental health, where building on positive attributes can lead to greater well-being and fulfillment.
Themes
PsychologyStrengthMental HealthWell-BeingResilience
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to encourage students to focus on their strengths.
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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