Oishi Quotes

Oishi had research assistants review and code obituaries for an entire year from a major US newspaper and found that there were three primary ways people were described as having lived a good life—it was either happy, meaningful, or filled with fascinating encounters and experiences; that is, psychologically rich.

Amy Oishi is compliant. Her mother is sick and her father is a prisoner and they’ve left her alone to care for her shrinking family. Amy Oishi is trapped. I don’t want to be her. I want to be different. I need to be different. I can’t be the same girl I was on the outside. If that girl is in a detention center, an American citizen imprisoned without trial or even charges, then the world doesn’t make sense. But if I’m someone else, then it’s easier to accept that the world now operates by different rules. Up is down. Wrong is right. Captivity is freedom. Day 27 After that night, things change.

In a sense, they are forgotten people in the extant scientific literature on well-being. By proposing the idea of the psychologically rich life, we attempt to shed light on the likes of Renée and Aaliya, both of whom we believe led good lives.