One of our major flaws, and causes of unhappiness, is that we find it hard to take note of appreciate and be grateful for what is always around us. We suffer because we lose sight of the value of what is before us and yearn, often unfairly, for the imagined attraction elsewhere.

Differ though we might with Christianity's view of what precisely our souls need, it is hard to discredit the provocative underlying thesis, which seems no less relevant in the secular realm than in the religious one-that we have within us a precious, childlike, vulnerable core which we should nourish and nurture on its turbulent journey through life.

Maturity: knowing where you're crazy, trying to warn others of the fact and striving to keep yourself under control.

We are tempted to believe that certain achievements and possessions will give us enduring satisfaction. We are invited to imagine ourselves scaling the steep cliff face of happiness in order to reach a wide, high plateau on which we will live out the rest of our lives; we are not reminded that soon after gaining the summit, we will be called down again into fresh lowlands of anxiety and desire.

The longing for destiny is nowhere stronger than in our romantic life.

Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits, lights of day, smells, textures of carpet.

You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils, sunsets and uneventful nice days.