Our memory tells us stories, that is, what we get to keep from our experiences is a story.

Poverty is clearly one source of emotional suffering, but there are others, like loneliness. A policy to reduce the loneliness of the elderly would certainly reduce suffering.

People who face a difficult question often answer an easier one instead, without realizing it.

Experienced happiness refers to your feelings, to how happy you are as you live your life. In contrast, the satisfaction of the remembering self refers to your feelings when you think about your life.

Most people are highly optimistic most of the time.

... sometimes when you are asked a question that is difficult, the mind doesn't stay silent if it doesn't have the answer. The mind produces something, and what it produces very characteristically is the answer to an easier but related question.

The illusion that we understand the past fosters overconfidence in our ability to predict the future.