Through positive thinking and related approaches, we seek the safety and solid ground of certainty, of knowing how the future will turn out, of a time in the future when we'll be ceaselessly happy and never have to fear negative emotions again. But in chasing all that, we close down the very faculties that permit the happiness we crave. Oliver Burkeman
About This Quote

Positive thinking and related approaches, such as positive affirmations, can help us feel more confident and optimistic, but they can also lead us to believe we have power over the future. When we believe we can control what happens, we become afraid to fail or be rejected by others. We often try to prevent failure by holding onto our false beliefs and avoiding all things that might upset our sense of security and certainty. But in chasing all that, we close down the very faculties that permit the happiness we crave.

Source: The Antidote: Happiness For People Who Cant Stand Positive Thinking

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More Quotes By Oliver Burkeman
  1. For the Stoics, then, our judgments about the world are all that we can control, but also all that we need to control in order to be happy; tranquility results from replacing our irrational judgments with rational ones

  2. By the second day, the song lyrics had faded, but in their place came darker irritations. Gradually, I started to become aware of a young man sitting just behind me and to the left. I had noticed him when he first entered the mediation hall,...

  3. And here lies the essential difference 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...

  4. 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...

  5. Through positive thinking and related approaches, we seek the safety and solid ground of certainty, of knowing how the future will turn out, of a time in the future when we'll be ceaselessly happy and never have to fear negative emotions again. But in chasing...

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