People who are busy are happier than people who are idle
There are many apparent reasons why people engage in activity, such as to earn money, to become famous, or to advance science. (...) However, we suggest a potentially deeper reason: People dread idleness, yet they need a reason to be busy.
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It seems that people know that busyness yields happiness, but if they lack justification for busyness, they will choose idleness. This inconsistency between predicted experience and choice reflects people’s desire to base decisions on rules and reasons rather than on feelings. [...] Idleness is potentially malignant. If idle people remain idle, they are miserable. If idle people become busy, they will be happier, but the outcome may or may not be desirable, depending on the value of the chosen activity. Busyness can be either constructive or destructive.
Your example
- Go and see the roses again. You will understand that yours is unique in the world. You will return to ...
Yet, certainly, the wise learn many things from their enemies; for caution preserves all things. From a friend you could not learn this, but your foe immediately obliges you to learn it. For example, the states have learned from enemies, and not from friends, to build lofty walls, and to possess ships of war. And this lesson preserves children, house, and possessions.
But again self-discipline was the great help. I had to learn to face people and I could not do it ...
The present theory then must be considered to be a suggested program or framework for future research and must stand ...
It’s saying no.
That’s your first hint that something’s alive. It says no. That’s how you know a baby is starting to turn into a person. They run around saying no all day, throwing their aliveness at everything to see what it’ll stick to. You can’t say no if you don’t have desires and opinions and wants of your own. You wouldn’t even want to.
No is the heart of thinking.