The more pessimistic your explanatory style, the easier it…

Whether or not we have hope depends on two dimensions of our explanatory style; pervasiveness and permanence.

— Martin Seligman

All of us, poor & rich alike, have been conditioned by our upbringings. Impoverished men & women may become lulled into a state of…

— John Green

“Lorenz’s concept of learned helplessness: how people believed that there was nothing they could do to help themselves even when opportunities for betterment arose. ”

— R.D. Brady

“Many psychologists assert that creating systems that cause feelings of powerlessness is one of the most damaging things we can do to fellow human…

— Gene Kim

“Years later, when I got to college, I learned about an important theory of psychology called Learned Helplessness, developed by Dr. Martin E. P.…

— Frederick P. Brooks Jr

Learned helplessness is the giving-up reaction, the quitting response that follows from the belief that whatever you do doesn't matter.

— Arnold Schwarzenegger

“Learned helplessness is a psychological reaction to repeated frustration and failure. Research shows that continual exposure to academic failure contributes to withdrawal, unwillingness to…

— Jody Swarbrick

“Learning beforehand that responding matters actually prevents learned helplessness”

— Seligman Martin

“People who suffer from learned helplessness think they have no control over their situations, so even if their suffering is great, they won’t take…

— Alberto Villoldo

“Learned helplessness is a common cause of clinical depression in people who perceive they have no control over the outcomes of their life situations.”

— Janae B. Weinhold

“It seems as though we can no longer imagine anyone but a professional or an institution or a product supplying our daily needs or…

— Michael Pollan

“I learned that people won’t believe me when I say I need help, and so I stopped asking. I found passive or covert ways…

— Autism Women's Network

Success requires persistence, the ability to not give up in the face of failure. I believe that optimistic explanatory style is the key to…

— Anonymous

“You make plans and decisions assuming randomness and chaos are for chumps. The illusion of control is a peculiar thing because it often leads…

— David McRaney

Our online news feeds aggregate all of the world's pain and cruelty, dragging our brains into a kind of learned helplessness. Technology that provides…

— Tristan Harris