Summary and Analysis of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

’s hard work being amazing, and nearly all of us will fail before we even remotely live up to our expectations for ourselves.

Happiness comes from accepting failure and working sincerely to overcome it.

Chapter 1: Don’t Try

Waiting around for motivation to strike almost never works. Motivation—and often inspiration—comes once we get to work. So get to work already!

Sometimes life absolutely sucks, and we must acknowledge it head-on if we want to get past it.

Manson concluded that maybe he was measuring his relationship incorrectly.

Much of our misery is caused by valuing the wrong things or valuing things without thought.

Happiness comes from accepting failure and working sincerely to overcome it.

Not giving a fuck” is about letting go of the stuff you can’t control. Focusing your concern (fucks) on things that you can do, no matter how small, is much more productive.

The fact that we feel bad about so many things shows that we give too many fucks about too many things. Better, then, to accept our disappointments and focus our time and energy on things we can do. To not give a fuck is to accept our circumstances and our lives. It doesn’t mean that we’ve given up or that we shouldn’t try to improve our station; it simply means that just because we don’t have the best car, the most fulfilling job, or the most Instagram-worthy party pictures, our lives aren’t complete failures. When we give fewer fucks about achieving wildly unrealistic and unlikely goals, we free ourselves from our own exhausting expectations. And, ironically, the peace we gain from this process will provide more clarity. It will show us which things we should truly give a fuck about.