Quotes by Martin Seligman

About Martin Seligman:

Martin E. P. is an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. Since the late 90's, Seligman has been an avid promoter within the scientific community for the field of positive psychology. His theory of learned helplessness is popular among scientific and clinical psychologists. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Seligman as the 31st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Positive emotion alienated from the exercise of character leads to emptiness, to inauthenticity, to depression, and, as we age, to the gnawing realization that we are fidgeting until we die.

Martin Seligman

The best therapists can do with sadness, anger, and anxiety is to help patients live in the more comfortable part of their set range.

Martin Seligman

I believe it is within our capacity that by the year 2051 that 51 percent of the human population will be flourishing. That is my charge.

Martin Seligman

Reaching beyond where you are is really important.

Martin Seligman

I don't mind being wrong, and I don't mind changing my mind.

Martin Seligman

It's no surprise that optimistic athletes, managers and teams do better. What's interesting is where they do better. It's in coming back from defeat and acting in the clutch.

Martin Seligman

It used to be that whenever I introduced myself to people and told them I was a psychologist, they would shrink away from me. Because, quite rightly, the impression the American public has of psychologists is, 'You want to know what's wrong with me.'

Martin Seligman

The dirty little secret of both clinical psychology and biological psychiatry is that they have completely given up on the notion of cure.

Martin Seligman

I don't think anyone's found a way of eliminating thoughts of danger and loss. It's rather that, when they're unrealistic, you become an acrobat at marshaling evidence against them.

Martin Seligman

One of my worries about America is the epidemic of depression we've been in. One of the possibilities about that is that the 'I' gets bigger and bigger, and the 'we' gets smaller and smaller.

Martin Seligman

I strongly disapprove of torture and have never and would never provide assistance in its process.

Martin Seligman

Creativity is bound up in our ability to find new ways around old problems.

Martin Seligman

Perhaps the single most robust fact across many surveys is that married people are happier than anyone else.

Martin Seligman

Sexual performance problems, such as impotence and frigidity, are 70 to 90 percent changeable. But a homosexual who wants to be a heterosexual - that's close to unchangeable. And a transsexual - say a man who believes he's really a woman in a man's b...

Martin Seligman

In human history, we are going from knowledge to omniscience, from potence to omnipotence, from ethics and religion to righteousness. So, in my view, God comes at the end of this long process. This may not happen in our lifetimes or even in the lifet...

Martin Seligman

Suppose you could be hooked up to a hypothetical 'experience machine' that, for the rest of your life, would stimulate your brain and give you any positive feelings you desire. Most people to whom I offer this imaginary choice refuse the machine. It ...

Martin Seligman

I have spent most of my life working with mental illness. I have been president of the world's largest association of mental-illness workers, and I am all for more funding for mental-health care and research - but not in the vain hope that it will cu...

Martin Seligman

High taxes on guns and strong restrictions on their availability are the only realistic hope for avoiding many more Sandy Hooks.

Martin Seligman

I'm trying to broaden the scope of positive psychology well beyond the smiley face. Happiness is just one-fifth of what human beings choose to do.

Martin Seligman

I think we pursue positive relationships whether or not they bring us engagement or happiness.

Martin Seligman

Author Bio

  • NameMartin Seligman
  • DescriptionAmerican psychologist and writer
  • BornAugust 12, 1942
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionPsychologist; Bridge Player; Writer
  • AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship