Ask yourself whether you are happy', observed the philosopher John Stuart Mill, 'and you cease to be so.' At best, it would appear, happiness can only be glimpsed out of the corner of an eye, not stared at directly.
Oliver BurkemanRead
Uncertainty is where things happen. It is where the opportunities - for success, for happiness, for really living - are waiting.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Embracing uncertainty opens the door to new opportunities for happiness and success.
This quote emphasizes the importance of uncertainty as a fertile ground for growth and opportunity. It suggests that great things such as success and genuine happiness often arise from situations where we cannot predict the outcome, encouraging us to embrace the unknown rather than fear it, as it is within this unpredictability that we can truly experience life.
Themes
UncertaintyOpportunitySuccessHappinessLife
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about personal growth.
More from Oliver Burkeman
All quotes βReassurance can actually exacerbate anxiety: when you reassure your friend that the worst-case scenario he fears probably won't occur, you inadvertently reinforce his belief that it would be catastrophic if it did. You are tightening the coil of his anxiety, not loosening it. All to often, the Stoics point out, things will not turn out for the best.
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True security lies in the unrestrained embrace of insecurity - in the recognition that we never really stand on solid ground, and never can.
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The effort to feel happy is often precisely the thing that makes us miserable. And that it is out constant efforts to eliminate the negative - insecurity, uncertainty, failure, or sadness - that is what causes us to feel so insecure, anxious, uncertain, or unhappy.
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