Our sense of what is valuable will hence be radically distorted if we must perpetually condemn as tedious everything we lack, simply because we lack it.

An argument in a couple: 2 people attempting to introduce each other to important truths - by panicked shouting.

Wealth is not an absolute. It is relative to desire. Every time we yearn for something we cannot afford, we grow poorer, whatever our resources. And every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess.

Endeavoring to purchase something we think beautiful may in fact be the most unimaginative way of dealing with the longing it excites in us, just as trying to sleep with someone may be the bluntest response to a feeling of love.

You need a long hard day's work to reveal the logic of the craving for very bad tv and alcohol.

Choosing a spouse and a choosing career: the two great decisions for which society refuses to set up institutional guidance.

We should keep a careful diary of our moments of envy: they are our covert guides to what we should try to do next.