Reassurance 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,… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
Ceaseless optimism about the future only makes for a greater shock when things go wrong; by fighting to maintain only positive beliefs about the… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“And here lies the essential between Stoicism and the modern-day 'cult of optimism.' For the Stoics, the ideal state of mind was tranquility, not the excitable cheer that positive thinkers usually seem to mean when they use the word, 'happiness.' And tranquility was to be achieved not by strenuously chasing after enjoyable experiences, but by cultivating a kind of calm… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share
“By the second day, the song lyrics had faded, but in their place came darker irritations. Gradually, I started to become aware of a… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
Through positive thinking and related approaches, we seek the safety and solid ground of certainty, of knowing how the future will turn out, of… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“All these counterproductive ways of thinking about failure manifest themselves most acutely in the phenomenon of perfectionism. This is one of those traits that… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“Ceaseless optimism about the future only makes for a greater shock when things go wrong; by fighting to maintain only positive beliefs about the… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“The greatest benefit of negative capability—the true power of negative thinking—is that it lets the mystery back in.” — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
What made Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein such creative geniuses? It wasn't reading books or watching YouTube talks about How To… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“Perhaps you don’t need telling that self-help books, the modern-day apotheosis of the quest for happiness, are among the things that fail to make… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
Who says you need to wait until you 'feel like' doing something in order to start doing it? The problem, from this perspective, isn't… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
“Incremental theory’ people are different. Because they think of abilities as emerging through tackling challenges, the experience of failure has a completely different meaning… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
It is illuminating to note, here, how the daily rituals and working routines of prolific authors and artists - people who really do get… — Oliver Burkeman Copy Share Image
