People feel happier when they feel like they're progressing. When they feel like something in their life is growing or getting better. — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Many people keep photos in their homes, in their office, or in their wallet, and happy families tend to display large numbers… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
I realize that in a happy life, making your bed should play a very small part, I don't know why this is… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Now, the term 'friend' is a little loose. People mock the 'friending' on social media, and say, 'Gosh, no one could have… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
I love taxonomies, categories, ways of dividing people into groups. — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Happy people make people happy, but I can’t make someone be happy, and no one else can make me happy. — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Happiness is a critical factor for work, and work is a critical factor for happiness. In one of those life-isn’t-fair results, it… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Your unhappiness doesn't help anyone else - and in fact, as I mentioned in another answer, happy people are more altruistically inclined.… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
They say that people teach what they need to learn. By adopting the role of happiness teacher, if only for myself, I… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
The 20-minute walk I take is better than the 3-mile run I never start. Having people over for take-out is better than… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
There's also something about your bed; it's sort of a symbol of yourself and of your marriage, if you're married. Making your… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
When Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government fell in May 1940, the nation turned to Churchill. At last, his unique qualities were brought… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
People often assume that the same approach will work for everyone, that the same habits will work for everyone, and that everyone… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Happiness is a critical factor for work, and work is a critical factor for happiness. In one of those life-isn't-fair results, it… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Spending hours stressed out in front of the TV isn't the same as volunteering or donating. Feeling a high level of personal… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
In general, religious people seem to be happier than non-religious people - under various definitions of "religiosity," such as church attendance or… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Most people enjoy 'potato-chip news' from time to time - to track a presidential election or the Oscars. However, some are particularly… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Turns out that people who try new things, go new places, learn new skills, etc. are happier. This can be tough, because… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
The number one resolution that people mention to me as something that's made them happier is - to my surprise - making… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
I'm a compulsive note-taker, and I used to feel self-conscious about pulling out my little notebook and taking notes during a casual… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Getting control of stuff makes people feel like they have more control over their lives - maybe irrationally, but it's one of… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Now that I've relinquished my fantasies of all the people I wish I could be, and stopped feeling guilty about [them], I… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Contemporary research shows that happy people are more altruistic, more productive, more helpful, more likable, more creative, more resilient, more interested in… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
“Second Splendid Truth One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Knowing what you admire in others is a wonderful mirror into your deepest, as yet unborn, self. — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
Being taken for granted is an unpleasant but sincere form of praise. Ironically, the more reliable you are and the less you complain, the… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
“one Secret of Adulthood is “Never start a sentence with the words ‘No offense’”? “And” — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
One of the findings that really interests me is that, although we think we ACT because of the way we FEEL, we often FEEL… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
We all want to get along well with other people, and one way to do this is to help people feel good about themselves.… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
During my study of happiness, I noticed something that surprised me: I often learn more from one person's highly idiosyncratic experiences than I do… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
There is a preppy wabi-sabi to soft, faded khakis and cotton shirts, but it's not nice to be surrounded by things that are worn… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
“There are times in the lives of most of us,” observed William Edward Hartpole Lecky, “when we would have given all the world to… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
“I started thinking more about music. I thought I'd accepted the fact that, as part of "Being Gretchen," I didn't really like music, but… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
If you've had something for more than six months, and it's still not repaired, it's clutter. — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
“The pleasure of doing the same thing, in the same way, every day, shouldn't be overlooked. The things I do every day take on… — Gretchen Rubin Copy Share Image
