It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
The Good Life

The Good Life

Lessons from the World's Longest Study on Happiness

Summary

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

‘This captivating, powerful book shows us scientifically and practically how to define, create and most importantly live the good life’ Jay Shetty


What is the key to a good life?

It is a question that preoccupies us all and one that the longest and most successful study of happiness ever conducted strives to answer. In this groundbreaking book, directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, bring together over 80 years of research to reveal the true components of a happy, fulfilled life.

The Good Life makes clear that what truly makes a rich and happy life is not synonymous with financial success and achievement, but is rather the result of our relationships. This remarkable work brings together scientific precision, traditional wisdom, incredible real-life stories and actionable insights to prove once and for all that our own wellbeing and ability to flourish is absolutely within our control.

‘In a crowded field of life advice and even life advice based on scientific research, Schulz and Waldinger stand apart’ Angela Duckworth, author of Grit

'An outstanding book. It combines the longest and richest study of human lives anywhere with two remarkable authors of extraordinary breadth' Richard Layard, author of Can We Be Happier?

Reviews

  • An outstanding book. It combines the longest and richest study of human lives anywhere with two remarkable authors of extraordinary breadth
    Sir Richard Layard, Professor of Economics, LSE and author of Can We Be Happier?

About the authors

Robert Waldinger

Dr Robert Waldinger is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Center for Psychodynamic Therapy and Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. He is also a Zen Priest.
Learn More

Marc Schulz

Marc Schulz is the associate director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and the Sue Kardas PhD 1971 Chair in Psychology at Bryn Mawr College. He also directs the data science program and previously chaired the psychology department and Clinical Developmental Psychology PhD program at Bryn Mawr. Dr. Schulz received his BA from Amherst College and his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a practicing therapist with postdoctoral training in health and clinical psychology at Harvard Medical School.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more