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The drive to resist compulsion is more important in wild animals than sex, food, or water... The drive for competence or to resist compulsion is a drive to avoid helplessness.

Martin Seligman

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Martin Seligman
Age: 82
Born: 1942
Born: August 12
Bridge Player
Psychologist
University Teacher
Writer
Albany
New York
Martin E. P. Seligman
Martin E P Seligman
M. E. P. Seligman
M E P Seligman
M. Seligman
M Seligman
Seligman
Seligman M
Seligman M.
Seligman M. E. P.
Seligman MEP
Martin Elias Peter Seligman
Drive
Avoid
Animals
Sex
Helplessness
Food
Competence
Animal
Compulsion
Water
Resist
Important
Wild

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The pleasant life: a life that successfully pursues the positive emotions about the present, past, and future.
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The good life is using your signature strengths every day to produce authentic happiness and abundant gratification.
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Whether or not we have hope depends on two dimensions of our explanatory style pervasiveness and permanence.
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Finding temporary and specific causes for misfortune is the art of hope: Temporary causes limit helplessness in time, and specific causes limit helplessness to the original situation.
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Finding permanent and universal causes for misfortune is the practice of despair.
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Just as the good life is something beyond the pleasant life, the meaningful life is beyond the good life.
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Ten years ago, when I was on an airplane and I introduced myself to my seatmate, and told them [I was a psychologist], they'd move away from me. ... And now when I tell people what I do, they move toward me.
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I believe that traditional wisdom is incomplete.
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People who believe they cause good things tend to like themselves better than people who believe good things come from other people or circumstances.
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One of the things psychologists used to say was that if you are depressed, anxious or angry, you couldn't be happy. Those were at opposite ends of a continuum. I believe that you can be suffering or have a mental illness and be happy - just not in the same moment that you're sad.
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Flow occurs in your life when your highest skills are matched to challenges that quite exactly meet them.
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There are physical characteristics which are inherited. These include things like good looks, high intelligence, physical coordination. These attributes contribute to success in life, and success in life is a determinant of optimism.
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On the other hand, permanent causes produce helplessness far into the future, and universal causes spread helplessness through all your endeavors.
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Reaching beyond where you are is really important.
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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.
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When well-being comes from engaging our strengths and virtues, our lives are imbued with authenticity.
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Success requires persistence, the ability to not give up in the face of failure. I believe that optimistic explanatory style is the key to persistence.
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Money, amazingly, is losing its power... Our economy is rapidly changing from a money economy to a satisfaction economy.
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Psychology should be just as concerned with building strength as with repairing damage
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