Both positive and negative ways of thinking are important in the right situation, but all too often schools emphasize critical thinking and following orders rather than creative thinking and learning new stuff. The result is that children rank the appeal of going to school just slightly above going to the dentist. In the modern world, I believe we have finally arrived at an era in which more creative thinking, less rote following of orders — and yes, even more enjoyment — will succeed better.

Pessimistic labels lead to passivity, whereas optimistic ones lead to attempts to change.

So anger helps us defend threatened territory — it is just, and it is honest. Not only that — it is healthy. It is widely believed that bottling up anger can kill us, slowly and in three different ways.