Quotes from Gretchen Rubin

begin by tackling the habits that help us to: 1. sleep 2. move 3. eat and drink right 4. unclutter Foundation

A "routine" is a string of habits, and a "ritual" is a habit charged with transcendent meaning.

When you buy any kind of device, put the cords, the manual, all that stuff in a labeled Ziploc bag. You avoid having a big tangle of mystery cords, plus when you get rid of the device, you can get rid of the ancillary parts, too.

Questioners tend to be very interested in improving processes. They like to eliminate mistakes and make things better.

What am I waiting for?     What would I do if I weren't scared?     What steps would make things easier?     What would I do if I had all the time and money in the world?     If I were looking back at this decision, five years from now, what will I wish I'd done?

One of the best ways to make myself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy myself.

Jamie has a transition habit when he comes home from work. He gives everyone a hello kiss, then disappears for twenty minutes or so. He changes out of his suit, sends one last round of emails, glances at a magazine, and then he's ready to join the family.

Because of their focus on justification, Questioners wake up each day and think, What needs to get done today and why?

all severity that does not tend to increase good, or prevent evil, is idle. An important reminder for Upholders

Most Upholders are good at taking care of themselves and enjoying themselves.

Maurice Maeterlinck's play The Blue Bird.

It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light

In an interview in the Paris Review, novelist and Rebel John Gardner made an observation that I've never forgotten: "Every time you break the law you pay, and every time you obey the law you pay.

Sometimes words only diminish what I want to convey.

one study of Facebook status updates showed that people who scored high on conscientiousness (good at planning and getting things done) also wrote a lot about getting rest and enjoying leisure - they frequently used words like weekend and relaxing

when we consider the Four Tendencies, we're better able to understand other people.

My ambition, however, was also a factor in leaving the law. I'd become convinced that passion was a critical factor in professional success... I could see that in my co-clerks at the Supreme Court: they read law journals for fun, they talked about cases during their lunch hours, they felt energized by their efforts. I didn't.

We can live and work more effectively with others when we identify their Tendencies - as coworkers and bosses, teachers and coaches, husbands and wives, parents and children, health-care providers and patients.

He that stumbles, and does not quite fall, gains a step.

is surprising how soon a desire will die of inanition if it be never fed.

I remember talking to a friend whose parents had been very involved in the civil rights movement. "They always said," he told me, "that you have to do that kind of work for yourself. If you do it for other people, you end up wanting them to acknowledge it and to be grateful and to give you credit. If you do it for yourself, you don't expect other people to react in a particular way.

Perfection may be an impossible goal, but habits help us to do better. Making headway toward a good habit, doing better than before, saves us from facing the end of another year with the mournful wish, once again, that we'd done things differently.

Enthusiasm is more important to mastery than innate ability, it turns out, because the single most important element in developing an expertise is your willingness to practice. Therefore, career experts argue, you're better off pursuing a profession that comes easily and that you love, because that's where you'll be more eager to practice and thereby earn a competitive advantage.

IF IT'S ON THE CALENDAR, IT HAPPENS