“A line will take us hours maybe; / Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought, / Our stitching and unstitching has been naught... Better go down upon your marrow-bones / And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones... For to articulate sweet sounds together / Is to work harder than all these, and yet / Be thought an idler by the noisy set.” IfsDoeHas BeensMomentsSeemsTogetherSoundHoursLinesBreakSweetHard WorkStonesHarderBonesKitchenWork HarderNoisyPavementMarrowIdlers Book:Later Poems Source: Later Poems
“The final moment of success is often no more thrilling than taking off a heavy backpack at the end of a long hike. If you went on the hike only to feel that pleasure, you are a fool. Yet people sometimes do just this. They work hard at a task and expect some special euphoria at the end. But when they achieve success and find only moderate and short-lived pleasure, they ask is that all there is? They devalue their accomplishments as a striving after wind. We can call this the progress principle: Pleasure comes more from making progress toward goals than from achieving them.” PeopleIfsFeelsLongEndsSometimesHardMomentsHappinessAsksGoalPleasurePrinciplesProgressAchieveSpecialWindHard WorkFoolTasksStriveFinalsHeavyAccomplishmentModeratesThrillingEuphoriaShort LivedDevalue Author:Jonathan Haidt