30 Quotes by Oliver Burkeman

Through positive thinking and related approaches, we seek the safety and solid ground of certainty, of knowing how the future will turn out, of a time in the future when we'll be ceaselessly happy and never have to fear negative emotions again. But in chasing all that, we close down the very faculties that permit the happiness we crave.

...Но аз съм благодарен за мястото си, защото, доколкото мога да преценя, съм се озовал до един от малкото циници в залата - добродушен, едър лесничей на име Джим, който от време на време скача на крака и се повиква "Страхотно съм мотивиран!" с тон, преливащ от сарказъм.

На билета мястото ми е опсиано като "първкласно", но това се оказва само още един изблик на позитивна истрия: на "Открий мотивация!" има само "първокласни", "приоритетни " и "ВИП" места.

Uncertainty is where things happen. It is where the opportunities – for success, for happiness, for really living – are waiting.

The real trick to producing great work isn’t to find ways to eliminate the edgy, nervous feeling that you might be swimming out of your depth. Instead, it’s to remember that everyone else is feeling it, too. We’re all in deep water. Which is fine: it’s by far the most exciting place to be.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way that I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked.

Sometimes the most valuable of all talents is to be able not to seek resolution; to notice the craving for completeness or certainty or comfort, and not to feel compelled to follow where it leads.

True security lies in the unrestrained embrace of insecurity – in the recognition that we never really stand on solid ground, and never can.

The effort to feel happy is often precisely the thing that makes us miserable. And that it is out constant efforts to eliminate the negative – insecurity, uncertainty, failure, or sadness – that is what causes us to feel so insecure, anxious, uncertain, or unhappy.