Iris Mauss

The more directly and desperately we pursue happiness, the more it eludes us.

Psychologist Iris Mauss found that people who place a very high value on happiness, who treat it like the primary goal, actually end up less happy, not more.

Because the act of constantly monitoring whether you're happy enough creates a kind of internal surveillance that makes genuine joy almost impossible.

It's like trying to fall asleep by really, really trying to fall asleep.