Quotes from the book "From Strength to Strength" - Arthur C Brooks

I really enjoyed the different perspectives projected in this book. Definitely something I would like to pick again 10 years from now and read. Here are some of the quotes I loved.

Choosing to be special (intoxicated, high, successful) over happy is addiction. 

Strivers tend to be addicted to alcoholism or workaholism. Many leaders tend to work 60-hour weeks. 

Workaholism leads to loneliness and loneliness leads to workaholism.  If you answer yes to the below questions you are a workaholic.

• Do you spend your discretionary time working? 

• Do you usually think about work when not working? 

• Do you work beyond what's required for work? 

Spouses want nice things to buy with money but hate when their spouse is spending time on things that get money. 

 

Self-objectification is when you look at the person in the mirror and hate him for his performance eval that year or his physical/looks. 

You are not your job. A narcissist is someone who falls in love with their self-image.  

 

Pride and fear are cousins. Being terrified of failing keeps most people at night. Afraid of disgrace than punishment.  

 

Satisfaction =(what you have)/(What you want). 

The secret to happiness is not falling in love, it is staying in love. 

Live in such a way, that you have nothing to regret if you die now. 

 

Death destroys us, but frequent fear of death makes us strong. 

 

Sex, socializing, and relaxing are the top 3 activities for happiness according to one study. 

 

Leaders are lonely because they want to be fair in performance valuation. They tend to achieve this by not socializing too much which could cause bias.   

There are different types of friends, Utility friends, professional friends, entertaining friends, and perfect friends. 

 

Love relationships are reciprocal, not hierarchical.  

 

When university students were asked to assume they were terminal/on death row and write a letter,  it was more morbid when compared to the actual letters written by real people in those situations.

Sometimes Sadness brings increased cognitive abilities. 

Generally, graduation speeches will be Hedonia, eudaimonia, or Go do make all the mistakes you can to learn. Hedonia relates to immediate sensory pleasure, happiness, and enjoyment, while eudaimonia relates to the consequences of self-growth and self-actualization.

Use things, love people, and worship the divine. 

Happy Reading !!!