The Art of the Good Life: 52 Surprising Shortcuts to Happiness, Wealth, and Success

by Rolf Dobelli

Living a good life has a lot to do with interpreting facts in a constructive way.

The most common misunderstanding I encounter is that the good life is a stable state or condition. Wrong. The good life is only achieved through constant readjustment.

The truth is that you begin with one set-up and then constantly adjust it. The more complicated the world becomes, the less important your starting point is.

So say good-bye to the cult of flexibility. Flexibility makes you unhappy and tired, and it distracts you from your goals. Chain yourself to your pledges. Uncompromisingly. It’s easier to stick to your pledges 100 percent of the time rather than 99 percent.

self-deception is incompatible with the good life. Accepting reality is easy when you like what you see, but you’ve got to accept it even when you don’t—especially when you don’t.

The key is to discover why it happened and tackle the issue at its root. Because problems aren’t like great Bordeaux wines—they don’t improve with age.

A basic rule of the good life is as follows: if it doesn’t genuinely contribute something, you can do without it.

As long as I keep the downside at bay, the upside will take care of itself.

That a big part of the good life is about steering clear of stupidity, foolishness and trends instead of striving for ultimate bliss. It’s not what you add that enriches your life—it’s what you omit.

For those of us blessed with good luck—i.e., for you and me—gratitude is the only appropriate response. One nice side effect is that grateful people are demonstrably happier people.

Donations and taxes aren’t financial matters. First and foremost, they’re issues of morality.

We have more words for emotions than for colors—yet we cannot express them clearly.

Restrict authenticity to keeping your promises and acting according to your principles. The rest is nobody else’s business.

Whether you call it a “second persona” or a “secretary of state,” you’ll soon realize that this barrier, this skin, this bark, not only shields you from toxic influences but also stabilizes what’s inside it. Like all boundaries, this external structure establishes a degree of internal clarity.