Thus the key to happiness lies not in changing our genetic makeup (which is impossible) and not in changing our circumstances (i.e., seeking wealth or attractiveness or better colleagues, which is usually impractical), but in our daily intentional activities. — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
The practice of gratitude is incompatible with negative emotions and may actually diminish or deter such feelings as anger, bitterness, and greed. — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
I use the term happiness to refer to the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one's life is… — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
It is equally important to investigate wellness as it is to study misery. — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
It turns out that the process of working toward a goal, participating in a valued and challenging activity, is as important to well-being as… — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
People prone to joyful anticipation, skilled at obtaining pleasure from looking forward and imagining future happy events, are especially likely to be optimistic and… — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
Forgiving people are less likely to be hateful, depressed, hostile, anxious, angry, and neurotic. — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
Happiness is not out there for us to find. The reason that it's not out there is that it's inside us. — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
The combination of rumination and negative mood is toxic. Research shows that people who ruminate while sad or distraught are likely to feel besieged,… — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
In a nutshell, the fountain of happiness can be found in how you behave, what you think, and what goals you set every day… — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
If we observe genuinely happy people, we shall find that they do not just sit around being contented. They make things happen. They pursue… — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
“D. A., and Kahneman, D. (1998). Does living in California make people happy?: A focusing illusion in judgments of life satisfaction. Psychological Science, 9: 340–46.” — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
I prefer to think of the creation or construction of happiness, because research shows that it's in our power to fashion it for ourselves. — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
...The more a person is inclined to gratitude, the less likely he or she is to be depressed, anxious, lonely, envious, or neurotic. — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
“Approximately one-third of all homes in 1940 did not have running water, indoor toilets, or bathtub/showers, and more than half had no central heating.… — Sonja Lyubomirsky Copy Share Image
