"A man may feel so completely thwarted that he seeks no form of satisfaction, but only distraction and oblivion. He then becomes a devotee of "pleasure." That is to say, he seeks to make life bearable by becoming less alive. Drunkenness, for example, is temporary suicide: the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness."

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Added on April 10, 2026
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Original Language: English

Sources

Ch. 1: What Makes People Unhappy?

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Conquest_of_Happiness