In Short, If We Adhere To The

Part Of Us Believes The New Car Is Better Because It Lasts Longer. But, In Fact, That's The Worst Thing About The New Car. It Will Stay Around To Disappoint You, Whereas A Trip To Europe Is Over. It Evaporates. It Has The Good Sense To Go Away, And You Are Left With Nothing But A Wonderful Memory.

If Someone Offered You A Pill That Would Make You Permanently Happy, You Would Be Well Advised To Run Fast And Run Far. Emotion Is A Compass That Tells Us What To Do, And A Compass That Perpetually Stuck On North Is Worthless.

When We Have An Experience -- Hearing A Particular Sonata, Making Love With A Particular Person, Watching The Sun Set From A Particular Window Of A Particular Room -- On Successive Occasions, We Quickly Begin To Adapt To It, And The Experience Yields Less Pleasure Each Time. Psychologists Call This Habituation, Economists Call It Declining Marginal Utility, And The Rest Of Us Call It Marriage

Why Isn’t It Fun To Watch A Videotape Of Last Night’s Football Game Even When We Don’t Know Who Won? Because The Fact That The Game Has Already Been Played Precludes The Possibility That Our Cheering Will Somehow Penetrate The Television, Travel Through The Cable System, Find Its Way To The Stadium, And Influence The Trajectory Of The Ball As It Hurtles Toward The Goalposts!

I Actually Think The Same Things Do Make Most People Happy. The Differences Are Extremely Small, And Around The Margins. You Like Peach Ice Cream; I Like Strawberry Ice Cream. Both Of Us Like Ice Cream Much Better Than A Smack On The Head With Two-by-four.