The idea that the future is unpredictable is undermined every day by the ease with which the past is explained.

It's not a case of: 'Read this book and then you'll think differently. I've written this book, and I don't think differently.

Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.

The conclusion is straightforward : self-control requires attention and effort.

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.

Many ideas happen to us. We have intuition, we have feeling, we have emotion, all of that happens, we don't decide to do it. We don't control it.

There is a huge wave of interest in happiness among researchers. There is a lot of happiness coaching. Everybody would like to make people happier.