Smile or Die

I can also suggest “Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World” by Barbara Ehrenreich. This book takes a scientific look at “positive thinking” showing what is true and what is total nonsense. This book is a must for anyone who ever suspected that just maybe everything isn’t possible.

The Happiness Hypothesis

If you haven't read "The Happiness Hypothesis" by Jonathan Haidt then do it! It is one of the most profound and interesting books I have read in years. Haidt gives real insight into the psychology of happiness and the ancient wisdom of the world’s great religions and philosophies.

Recognize this? I found this quote by Charlton Ogburn in his book "Merril's Marauders", Harpers Magazine, January 1957. "Merril's Marauders" is a first hand account of the Burma Campaign during WWII. In fact I have found similar quotations going back to acient Greece and I wouldn't be suprised to find even older references.

"We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. Presumably the plans for our employment were being changed. I was to learn later in life that, perhaps because we are so good at organizing, we tend as a nation to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization. "