Psychology is much bigger than just medicine, or fixing unhealthy things. Its about education, work, marriage - its even about sports. What I want to do is see psychologists working to help people build strengths in all these domains.

When it comes to our health, there are essentially four things under our control: the decision not to smoke, a commitment to exercise, the quality of our diet, and our level of optimism. And optimism is at least as beneficial as the others.

When we take time to notice the things that go right - it means we're getting a lot of little rewards throughout the day.

To be a virtuous person is to display, by acts of will, all or at least most of the six ubiquitous virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.

Psychology should be just as concerned with building strength as with repairing damage

Changing the destructive things you say to yourself when you experience the setbacks that life deals all of us is the central skill of optimism.

The pleasant life: a life that successfully pursues the positive emotions about the present, past, and future.