Bittersweet (Oprah's Book Club): How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole Cover
Podcast Mentions

Bittersweet (Oprah's Book Club) How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole

Susan Cain

#1 Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of long­ing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute aware­ness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death—bitter and sweet—are forever paired.

Podcasts 1
Quotes 5
10% Happier with Dan Harris

This book explored how the capacity to tune into the inherent joy and sadness of the human situation can act as a superpower for connection. The author discussed bittersweetness as a way of being in the world, recognizing that joy and sorrow are forever paired, and that everything loved is impermanent.

"

She's written a whole book about it in fact. It's called Bittersweet.

— Episode: What is Sadness Good For? | Susan Cain

Episode: What is Sadness Good For? | Susan Cain

This book explored how the capacity to tune into the inherent joy and sadness of the human situation can act as a superpower for connection. The author discussed bittersweetness as a way of being in the world, recognizing that joy and sorrow are forever paired, and that everything loved is impermanent.

"

She's written a whole book about it in fact. It's called Bittersweet.

In this book, she explores how the capacity to tune in to the inherent joy and sadness of the human situation can be a superpower for connection.

But I also talk about bitter sweetness as a way of being in the world, a kind of recognition of the way that joy and sorrow are forever paired and that everyone and everything we love most in this world is not going to be here forever but that somehow the more you become attuned to these truths, to these realities, the more dialed in you become to a kind of joy at the beauty of the world.

I would say that some people are kind of sort of enter the world predisposed to this bittersweet state. And I'm guessing that's about 15 to 20% of people and I say that because that's the number of people who are born with a highly sensitive temperament.

The book I've been checking out lately is called Devil Makes Three. It's by Ben Fountain.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.