It is amazing how little effort most people make to improve control of their attention. If reading a book seems too difficult, instead of sharpening concentration we tend to set it aside and instead turn on the television, which not only requires minimal attention, but in fact tends to diffuse what little it commands with choppy editing, commercial interruptions, and generally inane content.

Attention is psychic energy, and like physical energy, unless we allocate some part of it to the task at hand, no work gets done.

Those who seek consolation in existing churches often pay for their peace of mind with a tacit agreement to ignore a great deal of what is known about the way the world works.

But it is impossible to enjoy a tennis game, a book, or a conversation unless attention is fully concentrated on the activity.

However, a good life consists of more than simply the totality of enjoyable experiences. It must also have a meaningful pattern, a trajectory of growth that results in the development of increasing emotional, cognitive, and social complexity.

Happiness is not something that happens ... It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them.

We cannot deny the facts of nature, but we should certainly try to improve on them.