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Here’s a thoughtful collection of **Martin E. P. Seligman’s most inspiring wisdom**—rooted in positive psychology and offering insight into optimism, well‑being, resilience, and the meaningful life:
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### On Optimism & Changing Your Thinking
* **“Curing the negatives does not produce the positives.”**
([A-Z Quotes][1])
* **“Changing the destructive things you say to yourself when you experience the setbacks that life deals all of us is the central skill of optimism.”**
([A-Z Quotes][1])
* **“Pessimistic prophecies are self‑fulfilling.”**
([Goodreads][2])
* **“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.”**
([Goodreads][2])
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### On Well-Being, Meaning & the PERMA Framework
* **“Well‑being cannot exist just in your own head. Well‑being is a combination of feeling good as well as actually having meaning, good relationships and accomplishment.”**
([BrainyQuote][3])
* **“The good life consists in deriving happiness by using your signature strengths every day in the main realms of living. The meaningful life adds one more component: using these same strengths to forward knowledge, power or goodness.”**
([A-Z Quotes][1])
* His **PERMA model**—Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment—outlines five pillars of flourishing.
([Wikipedia][4])
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### On Virtue, Depth & Realistic Optimism
* **“If we just wanted positive emotions, our species would have died out a long time ago.”**
([The Flourishing Center][5])
* **“What humans want is not just happiness. They want justice; they want meaning.”**
([Toolshero][6])
* **“Positive psychology is not remotely intended to replace therapy or pharmacology… Positive psychology is another arrow in the quiver… through which we can raise wellbeing above zero.”**
([BrainyQuote][3])
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### Why These Quotes Matter
| Theme | Insight |
| ————————- | —————————————————————————————————————- |
| **Optimism as a skill** | Seligman reframes optimism not as naive positivity but as a learned, resilient explanatory style. |
| **Holistic flourishing** | True well‑being isn’t just about feeling good—it grows from relationships, purpose, engagement, and achievement. |
| **Virtue beyond emotion** | He reminds us that purpose, justice, and meaning are more lasting foundations than fleeting pleasure. |
—
### A Final Takeaway
Perhaps the most powerful nugget from Seligman is this:
> **“Success requires persistence… optimistic explanatory style is the key to persistence.”**
> Optimism, in his view, isn’t blind cheer—it’s how we interpret our setbacks and keep moving forward.
> ([Goodreads][2], [Wikipedia][4], [Verywell Mind][7])
Let me know if you’d like to dive deeper into the PERMA model, learn about learned optimism techniques like the ABCDE method, or explore how these ideas appear in his books like *Authentic Happiness* or *Flourish*.
[1]: https://www.azquotes.com/author/20352-Martin_Seligman?utm_source=chatgpt.com ”TOP 25 QUOTES BY MARTIN SELIGMAN (of 65)”
[2]: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/26823-learned-optimism-how-to-change-your-mind-and-your-life?utm_source=chatgpt.com ”Learned Optimism Quotes by Martin E.P. Seligman”
[3]: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/martin-seligman-quotes?utm_source=chatgpt.com ”Martin Seligman Quotes”
[4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PERMA_model?utm_source=chatgpt.com ”PERMA model”
[5]: https://theflourishingcenter.com/quotes-by-martin-seligman/?utm_source=chatgpt.com ”Martin Seligman on Positive Psychology”
[6]: https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/martin-seligman/?utm_source=chatgpt.com ”Martin Seligman biography, quotes and books”
[7]: https://www.verywellmind.com/martin-seligman-biography-2795527?utm_source=chatgpt.com ”Martin Seligman Biography”