When we now looked at the upsurge of depression, we could view it as an epidemic of learned helplessness.

Learned optimism is not a rediscovery of the “power of positive thinking.”

Changing either rumination or pessimism helps relieve depression. Changing both helps the most.

Curing the negatives does not produce the positives.

So analyzing and wallowing in emotion when distressed seems a likely explanation for why women are more depressed than men.

The explanatory-style theory of success says that in order to choose people for success in a challenging job, you need to select for three characteristics: aptitude motivation optimism All three determine success.

Tests reveal traces of pessimism in the speech of people who would never think of themselves as pessimists; they also show that these traces are sensed by others, who react negatively to the speakers.

Fighting is a human choice, and it is your child’s well-being, more than yours, that may be at stake.

A ruminator can either be an optimist or a pessimist.