Paul Watzlawick was a communication scientist, psychotherapist, and author. In “The Pursuit of Unhappiness,” he aims at our (self-)destructive patterns of thought and action with a good dose of irony.
Watzlawick shows amusingly how we make life difficult for ourselves with irrational beliefs and self-constructed thought prisons.
His approach is not to explain how to become happy – but how to guarantee that we don’t. The examples range from “self-fulfilling prophecies” to the compulsion to find meaning in everything. He uses short, often absurd anecdotes and case studies to expose our thought patterns.
If you want to look at yourself and your thinking errors with a twinkle in your eye, you’ve come to the right place. The book is aimed at anyone open to laughing at themselves – and learning in the process.
Personally, I found it refreshing and eye-opening – you recognize yourself in more examples than you might like. But that’s precisely what makes it so charming.
🎧 Suitable as an audiobook? Yes.
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