The Illicit Happiness Of Other People
by Sean Carter
I thought it was impossible to have a better life than Anthony Bourdain. But his final bittersweet gift just knocked me on my ass with the stark reminder that adventure, love, prosperity, prestige…anything we aspire to at all…is really just the currency we use to buy the four things that really matter:
Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, an
... See moreunscrupulous forces, does that mean I’ll end up happy?’ ‘It’s not about being happy,’ he said, which was, and still is, the saddest remark I’ve ever heard.
Anna Burns • Milkman
It struck him that he’d never been so happy, but was wise enough to understand that his happiness consisted largely of hope. Their meeting in the ruin had been intimate and strange, and had sustained his spirit for days; but quickly they’d reverted to their easy pretence of being boys with a mystery on their hands. So they spoke only of where Maria
... See moreSarah Perry • Enlightenment
‘You never did. But do you want to, even now? You can’ – he seemed to be leaning out of himself – ‘I’m just here.’ He breathed as if the air were thin. His lips were red. The buttons on his coat had come undone and he looked at Thomas with an elated will that had no desire in it. I know that look, thought Thomas, I’ve seen it before, when Lowlands
... See more