My Friends Tell Me That

People Are Happiest When They're Trying To Achieve Goals That Are Difficult But Not Out Of Reach.

We All Have Direct Experience With Things That Do Or Don't Make Us Happy, We All Have Friends, Therapists, Cabdrivers, And Talk-show Hosts Who Tell Us About Things That Will Or Won't Make Us Happy, And Yet, Despite All This Practice And All This Coaching, Our Search For Happiness Often Culminates In A Stinky Mess. We Expect The Next Car, The Next House, Or The Next Promotion To Make Us Happy Even Though The Last Ones Didn't And Even Though Others Keep Telling Us That The Next Ones Won't.

In Short, If We Adhere To The Standard Of Perfection In All Our Endeavors, We Are Left With Nothing But Mathematics And The White Album.

The Data Says That With The Poor, A Little Money Can Buy A Lot Of Happiness. If You're Rich, A Lot Of Money Can Buy You A Little More Happiness. But In Both Cases, Money Does It.

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.