Optimism is normal, but some fortunate people are more optimistic than the rest of us. If you are genetically endowed with an optimistic bias, you hardly need to be told that you are a lucky person - you already feel fortunate.

If you can't take the time for a vacation right now, or even a night out with friends, put something on the calendar - even if it's a month or a year down the road. Then whenever you need a boost of happiness, remind yourself about it.

I would be wary of experts' intuition, except when they deal with something that they have dealt with a lot in the past.

Economists think about what people ought to do. Psychologists watch what they actually do.

The idea that you can ask one question and it makes the point - well, that wasn't how psychology was done at the time.

If people do not know what is going to make them better off or give them pleasure, then the idea that you can trust people to do what will give them pleasure becomes questionable.

We are often confident even when we are wrong, and an objective observer is more likely to detect our errors than we are.