Women’s magazines will often ask me things like, 'All right, I need six five-minute happiness strategies.' And I say, well, there aren’t any five-minute happiness strategies. This is something you have to do kind of every day for the rest of your life. Just like if you want to raise moral children or if you want to advance in your career. It’s a goal you pursue your whole life.

It turns out that the process of working toward a goal, participating in a valued and challenging activity, is as important to well-being as its attainment.

Write down your barrier thoughts, and then consider ways to reinterpret the situation. In the process, ask yourself questions like... What else could this situation or experience mean? Can anything good come from it? Does it present any opportunities for me? What lessons can I learn and apply to the future? Did I develop any strengths as a result?

Happiness is not out there for us to find. The reason that it's not out there is that it's inside us.

The combination of rumination and negative mood is toxic. Research shows that people who ruminate while sad or distraught are likely to feel besieged, powerless, self-critical, pessimistic, and generally negatively biased.

It is equally important to investigate wellness as it is to study misery.

...The more a person is inclined to gratitude, the less likely he or she is to be depressed, anxious, lonely, envious, or neurotic.