happiness
What makes a life go well: whether it is meaning, love, virtue, enough money, or simply expecting less.
FilterEveryone, all time99 from 51 people
- TC
Tyler Cowen quoted
Economist at George Mason University
Their wordsDespite limited ability to detect within-person change due to temporal stability in responses, the absence of cross-lagged effects is informative: there is scant evidence of a meaningful relationship between social technology use and subsequent life satisfaction.
- 8 days earlier
- SC
Sasha Chapin quoted
Writer and author of All the Wrong Moves
Their wordsThe more you drop this idea, the happier you are, and the more alien you feel.
↗Average moments of a long-term meditatorsashachapin.substack.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 4 days earlier
- PB
Paul Bloom quoted
Psychologist at the University of Toronto and professor emeritus at Yale
Their wordsI think these considerations of flourishing matter more than the psychological studies that everyone, including me, is so obsessed with.
↗Kids These Days, Part IIsmallpotatoes.paulbloom.net 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 4 days earlier
- HR
Hannah Ritchie quoted
Data scientist at Our World in Data and author of Not the End of the World
Their wordsYoung people tend to be happier than older generations, but not in the Anglosphere
- HR
Hannah Ritchie quoted
Their wordsThis pattern of the young being much happier is concentrated in post-communist countries: Croatia, Serbia, Moldova, Montenegro, and Bulgaria.
- 8 days earlier
- RH
Rob Henderson quoted
Psychologist and writer
Their wordsHappier couples tend to give each other the benefit of the doubt. Rather than assuming "My partner doesn't care," they're more likely to consider that the other is tired, distracted, overwhelmed or simply unaware of the impact of their behavior.
↗Bad Strategy, First-World Problems, Heterodox Datingrobkhenderson.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 2 days earlier
- JL
Joe Liemandt quoted
Founder of Trilogy Software and principal of Alpha School
Their wordsAnd we explained to them, which is the key to your child's happiness is high standards. And I can't run a school that they love more than vacation if I have low standards.
↗How to Accelerate Learning & Improve Education | Joe Liemandtyoutube.com 3rd of 26 in this recording
- 3 days earlier
- RH
Ryan Holiday quoted
American author of The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy
Their wordsThere are plenty of billionaires who don't have it, plenty of ordinary people who have never lost it. So it doesn't take some enormous amount of money.
↗The Discipline Required To Create The Life You Wantryanholiday.net 3rd of 4 in this piece
- 4 days earlier
- MH
Masud Husain quoted
Professor of Neurology at the University of Oxford
Their wordsBut when they looked at the happiness levels of these people, it was the average person who actually would self-report the highest levels of happiness. So ambition doesn't necessarily equate with happiness, which I think many people would agree with with that.
↗How to Improve Motivation & Overcome Procrastination | Dr. Masud Husainyoutube.com 12th of 24 in this recording
- 6 weeks earlier
- AC
Alan Castel quoted
Professor of psychology at UCLA
Their wordsthere's some interesting work on you know happiness being more curve linear like midlife is actually some of the lowest levels of happiness and life satisfaction
↗How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castelyoutube.com 15th of 24 in this recording
- 3 weeks earlier
- SC
Sasha Chapin quoted
Their wordsUnhappiness is the product of the number of times per minute that you believe circumstances should be otherwise.
↗Surrender as a non-stupid life strategysashachapin.substack.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 4 weeks earlier
- DR
Dax Raad quoted
Builds developer tools — SST, and now OpenCode at Anomaly
Their wordsthere is a world where the net result of all these AI coding tools is the same amount of work gets done, but all the engineers are happier because their job is easier. That's not good enough for a lot of companies. So, they're just going to say go back to typing out the code.
↗Building OpenCode with Dax Raadyoutube.com 15th of 24 in this recording
- 5 weeks earlier
- SW
swyx quoted
Writer and developer
Their wordsThe only lasting path to satisfaction, happiness, skin in the game, maximizing learning, is to really study everybody's game, define your own, and then play it to the best of your ability.
- 2 weeks earlier
- DH
David Heinemeier Hansson quoted
Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals
Their wordsI think that's the other big misconception that some people have about wealth is that they conceive of it as some sort of checkpoint. Like once you've made it, then you can just kick back in leisure as though that was happiness.
↗DHH’s new way of writing codeyoutube.com 21st of 21 in this recording
- 2 months earlier
- JC
JL Collins quoted
Author of The Simple Path to Wealth…
Our readingSpending money does not generate happiness.
Their wordsthere is no research that suggests spending money generates happiness.
↗Some Thoughts on Spendingjlcollinsnh.com 1st of 3 in this piece
- 10 days earlier
- NC
Nick Cave quoted
Australian songwriter and writer
Our readingSuffering is not an interruption of a good life but the ground the good things grow out of.
Their wordsSuffering is the essential and nourishing ground from which all the delightful gifts of life emerge.
↗Do you think humans have to suffer before harnessing genuine human sympathy?theredhandfiles.com
- 6 weeks earlier
- ML
Michael Lewis quoted
American author of Liar's Poker, Moneyball
Their wordsthe average athlete who's taking a few million dollars more to move his wife and kids from one family, one city that they loves him and that he loves to some strange place where everybody's going to be unhappy.
↗10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)youtube.com 16th of 16 in this recording
- 2 months earlier
- LS
Lyman Stone quoted
Demographer
Their wordsI don’t see population collapse or lack of workers as the central policy problem: the central policy problem is human happiness, human flourishing, and the freedom to live life well.
↗Falling Fertility Is Not About Opportunity Costlymanstone.substack.com 4th of 5 in this piece
- 2 weeks earlier
- PD
Pavel Durov quoted
Founder of Telegram, and before it of VK
Their wordsSo think about this. If your brain is this most valuable tool you have in your journey to success and happiness, why would you destroy this tool for short-term pleasure? This sounds ridiculous.
↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 2nd of 28 in this recording
- 9 days earlier
- JZ
Julie Zhuo quoted
Co-founder of Sundial; former vice president of product…
Their wordsI go back to usually when people are unhappy it's because these things are a little bit out of sync. Like they want this big thing, but they don't actually they're not actually excited about what it takes to do that thing and therefore it's just going to be a mismatch.
↗From managing people to managing AI: The leadership skills everyone needs now | Julie Zhuoyoutube.com 17th of 22 in this recording
- 2 months earlier
- DH
David Heinemeier Hansson quoted
Their wordsMojito Island is a mirage. It always was. There is no retirement for ambitious people. There is no just sitting back on the beach and sipping a mojito for what? For two weeks before you go damn crazy and wanna get back into the action?
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 24th of 36 in this recording
- 3 weeks earlier
- TG
Tanner Greer quoted
Essayist, journalist and independent researcher on Chinese…
Their wordsAny author can make suffering seem significant. Only the greatest authors can plumb the depths of happiness.
↗Book Notes: Stoner (1965)scholars-stage.org 1st of 2 in this piece
- 5 months earlier
- KD
Kent C. Dodds quoted
Software engineer and educator
Their wordsMost people should get married and have kids much earlier than the current average (and have more kids than the current average). Doing this successfully (without screwing it up with selfish pride) will make the world better and make them happier than anything else they’re doing.
- 3 months earlier
- DA
Dario Amodei quoted
Co-founder and CEO of Anthropic
Their wordsIn any case I think meaning comes mostly from human relationships and connection, not from economic labor.
- 4 months earlier
- CR
Charan Ranganath quoted
Professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California
Their wordsIt’s just this idea that people have about the past can be very useful if it brings you happiness in the present, but if it narrows your worldview in the present, you’re not aware of those biases that you have, it can be toxic either at a personal level or at a collective level.
↗Charan Ranganath: Human Memory, Imagination, Deja Vu, and False Memories | Lex Fridman Podcast #430youtube.com 17th of 20 in this recording
- 9 days earlier
- LS
L. M. Sacasas quoted
Writer on technology, culture and the moral life
Their wordsA good life is supported by a diverse array of focal things and practices, which tend to reward us with deeper, more meaningful experiences; a gratifying measure of bodily skill and competence; and possibly even a stronger fabric of relationships.
↗The Stuff of (a Well-Lived) Lifetheconvivialsociety.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 5 weeks earlier
- AB
Arthur C. Brooks quoted
Social scientist who writes about happiness
Their wordsMy own assessment of the evidence is that money alone cannot buy happiness, nor can spending money to acquire possessions make one happy; but having the money to pay for experiences with loved ones, to free up time to spend on meaningful activities, and to support good causes does enhance happiness.
↗Jung’s Five Pillars of a Good Life (The Atlantic, How to Build a Life; reposted by AEI)aei.org 1st of 3 in this piece
- AB
Arthur C. Brooks quoted
Our readingThe aim should be lifelong progress toward being happier, not a search for pure happiness.
Their wordsDo not fall prey to seeking pure happiness. Instead, seek lifelong progress toward happierness.
↗Jung’s Five Pillars of a Good Life (The Atlantic, How to Build a Life; reposted by AEI)aei.org 2nd of 3 in this piece
- AB
Arthur C. Brooks quoted
Their wordsCultivate deep relationships through marriage, family, and real friendships. Remember that happiness is love.
↗Jung’s Five Pillars of a Good Life (The Atlantic, How to Build a Life; reposted by AEI)aei.org 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 4 months earlier
- DH
David Heinemeier Hansson quoted
Their wordsYour life will literally be longer, healthier, and happier, if you let nature wash over you regularly
The line under a date fills as the words age, a quarter at a time: past a month, six months, a year, and three years. Empty means said within the last month; full, more than three years ago. It says when, not whether it still holds — a change of mind is marked on the claim itself.
Dashed means we only know the words existed by that date; they may be older.