quests, failure, desire

a lot of celebrated qualities are incompatible with each other. Ambition often comes with discontent; focus with rigidity; contentment with complacency. A couple that does everything together probably has fewer close friends. A social butterfly might have a messy house. These are crude examples, but it’s worth remembering that we all have to assess... See more

A large percentage of people’s problems in work, love and life are due to some combination of vagueness and passivity. You don’t know what you want to spend your time on; you don’t know what kind of person you really get along with; you don’t know what kind of clothing looks good to you; you don’t know what you value in a city; you don’t know how t... See more

We’re made so uneasy by the experience of allowing reality to unfold at its own speed that when we’re faced with a problem, it feels better to race toward a resolution—any resolution, really, so long as we can tell ourselves we’re “dealing with” the situation, thereby maintaining the feeling of being in control. So we snap at our partners, rather t... See more