For the longest time, I believed that there’s only one purpose of life: And that is to be happy.

Build a skill set that’s worth something.

Happiness can’t be a goal in itself. Therefore, it’s not something that’s achievable. I believe that happiness is merely a byproduct of usefulness.

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

We all need comfort: It’s one of our basic needs as human beings. But we also need growth. So whatever you do, don’t stay in your comfort zone for too long. Try to keep moving forward every day: Even if it’s just a tiny step. No magic. Just effort.

Don’t take it too seriously. Don’t overthink it. Just DO something that’s useful. Anything.

But success is not about a glorious vision. It’s about you, working on your goal—even when no one’s watching. With an emphasis on working because dreaming alone won’t get you anywhere.

Worrying involves negative--often catastrophic--predictions about the future.

Awareness is the first step in putting an end to overthinking. Start paying attention to the way you think. When you notice you’re re-playing events in your mind over and over, or worrying about things you can’t control, acknowledge that your thoughts aren’t productive.

Ask yourself what steps you can take to learn from a mistake or to avoid a future problem. Instead of asking why did this happen? Ask yourself what can I do about it?

Don’t try to be something you’re not. If you’re an introvert, don’t pretend that you can work in a boiler room. If you’re an extrovert, don’t pretend you can work in solitude. Stay close to yourself—there’s no point in pushing yourself so badly that your life becomes miserable

When you notice yourself overthinking things outside of your scheduled time, remind yourself that you’ll think about that later.

Busying yourself with an activity is the best way to change the channel. Exercise, engage in conversation on a completely different subject, or get working on a project that will distract your mind from the barrage of negative thoughts.

Thoughts themselves do NOT cause us to suffer Suffering comes from how we relate to thoughts

When we are drowning under a tsunami of rapidfire thoughts and don't know how to stop thinking, the mind SEEMS to be an all-powerful entity with the power to make us suffer. In truth, however, the ONLY power the mind has is the power we give it through habit.

An important tip on how to stop thinking is to take everything the mind tells you with a large pinch of salt! We don't suffer because of the content of the mind. We suffer because we believe it. What you don't believe has no power over you.

questioning everything the mind comes up with through using the question: "Do I know for absolute certain that this is true?" If you practice this, you will quickly come to see that the mind is filled with a million and one beliefs and assumptions which simply have no basis in truth

We create suffering for ourselves through wanting it to be different from how it is. Through consciously choosing to allow whatever the mind comes up with to be OK, we wrap even the most disturbing thoughts in peace.

You woke up this morning, breathing and with a heartbeat. You get to enjoy today and hopefully wake up again tomorrow. You get to see your family and friends, and enjoy food and life’s luxuries. It can sometimes be easy to forget to be grateful for the most basic thing: life itself.

you should be grateful for your health because it is the foundation of who you are. According to Reiss, you don’t necessarily need to be physically and mentally well to feel healthy, but when you do feel healthy, it’s one of life’s greatest blessings.

So even if you don’t have the most exciting job in the world, remember to feel some gratitude for it every once in a while, because your life would be a lot different without it.

Feel thankful and express that gratefulness if you are lucky enough to have family who is more like friends: They’re people you can confide in and who will be there for you through thick and thin. Many people don’t have that kind of family, so be grateful. And remember to tell them how lucky you are.

You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends. If you’ve chosen good ones, remember to be grateful for them and express your love and appreciation.

friends are the families we make. Friends help you remember who you really are and who you can become. They remind you what you want and need, as well as what you deserve. True friends are there through your best and darkest times. Appreciate that connection. Express your gratitude every chance you get.

Free time lets you be you. You get to do your favourite things, no matter what those are. Free time allows you to sleep more, enjoy the outdoors, relax at home, garden, fish— whatever you enjoy most. Be grateful that you get the opportunity to do the things you love.

It is important to feel gratefulness for today’s modern gadgets. Think about how much they contribute to your daily life. For some, they help them do their jobs every day. Some people use them solely as a form of entertainment. For some, they provide a beat to keep you motivated during your run or gym workout.

Feel even more gratefulness for the modern techno-gadgets that keep people alive, like pacemakers. Today’s gadgets do so much to keep our lives going that we often overlook them. Instead, the next time you’re typing away on that computer, remember to appreciate it and be grateful.

Charter opponents often try to delegitimize strong testing results like those in Boston by attributing them to excessive test prep - as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio did recently.

I had a friend who introduced me to a meditation practice which involves a couple of half-hours a day of meditation, where essentially you try to achieve a stillness that allows you to just be there in the moment.

Dreams are like paper, they tear so easily.

Hello? Three words: Benicio Del Toro, which, incidentally, is Spanish for 'he wants me.' It is just ridiculous how hot he is. I feel the same way about Benicio as I did when I was a kid lusting after David Cassidy.

For there is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands.

I've just always believed you can get anything you want in this life - anything you want.

It is hard for me to be vulnerable, because I never learned how to do that. I was never vulnerable in a safe way.

Personality is everything in art and poetry.

Andy Grammer is probably the closest friend I have in the music industry, so touring with him was just incredible. He's such a soulful, kind guy, and he gives great advice. And he also scares me a lot. He does a lot of pranks.

Chiapas is probably the main concern I have right now for the planet.

Cheap natural gas is a big stimulus to petrochemical production and a meaningful one for all U.S. manufacturing.

I won't say I wouldn't be grateful and happy and delighted and thrilled to bits to receive a nomination. But I wouldn't be suicidal if it didn't happen.

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1, so I never have to live without you.

God is an awesome mathematician and physicist.

I've been keeping journals since I was 13.

A guitar is a very personal extension of the person playing it. You have to be emotionally and spiritually connected to your instrument. Im very brutal on my instruments but not all the time.

George Bush is a catastrophe for the world. And a dream for Bin Laden.

There are a whole variety of reasons I want to be attorney general, a whole variety of things that I do as attorney general that go beyond national security.

My mother was a single mom, and most of the women I know are strong.

The rotation of the polarization plane is extraordinarily small in all gases, thus also in sodium vapour.

We need men and women to sit down and talk to each other about sex honestly and openly. That would help us fight Aids so immediately. But our lack of communication is hugely problematic.

I no longer limit myself.