Authors:

Daniel Gilbert Quotes - Page 3

All Quotes Happiness Memories Pleasure
Why isn’t it fun to watch a videotape of last night’s football game even when we don’t know who won? Because the fact that the game has already been played precludes the possibility that our cheering will somehow

Why isn’t it fun to watch a videotape of last night’s football game even when we don’t know who won? Because the fact that the game has already been played precludes the possibility that our cheering will somehow penetrate the television, travel through the cable system, find its way to the stadium, and influence the trajectory of the ball as it hurtles toward the goalposts!

Daniel Gilbert
Football, Cheer, Fun
Daniel Gilbert (2006). “Stumbling on Happiness”, p.22, Vintage

Our inability to recall how we really felt is why our wealth of experiences turns out to be poverty of riches.

Daniel Gilbert
Inability, Riches, Poverty

Happiness refers to feelings, virtue refers to actions, and those actions can cause those feelings. But not necessarily and not exclusively.

Daniel Gilbert
Happiness, Feelings, Causes
Daniel Gilbert (2006). “Stumbling on Happiness”, p.37, Vintage

The price we pay for our irresponsible explanatory urge is that we often spoil our most pleasant experiences by making good sense of them.

Daniel Gilbert
Pay, Pleasure, Spoil

Because your brain uses information from the areas around the blind spot to make a reasonable guess about what the blind spot would see if only it weren't blind, and then your brain fills in the scene with this information. That's right, it invents things, creates things, makes stuff up! It doesn't consult you about this, doesn't seek your approval. It just makes its best guess about the nature of the missing information and proceeds to fill in the scene.

Daniel Gilbert
Blind Spots, Missing, Brain

In short, if we adhere to the standard of perfection in all our endeavors, we are left with nothing but mathematics and the White Album.

Daniel Gilbert
White, Perfection, Albums
Daniel Gilbert (2006). “Stumbling on Happiness”, p.65, Vintage

Most of us appear to believe that we are more athletic, intelligent, organized, ethical, logical, interesting, open-minded, and healthy-not to mention more attractive-than the average person.

Daniel Gilbert
Believe, Intelligent, Average

Arthritic toothless people who love orgasms are more likely to reproduce than are limber, toothy people who do not.

Daniel Gilbert
People, Toothless

Psychologists call this habituation, economists call it declining marginal utility, and the rest of us call it marriage.

Daniel Gilbert
Psychologist, Economist, Utility
Daniel Gilbert (2006). “Stumbling on Happiness”, Vintage

To ensure that our views are credible, our brain accepts what our eye sees. To ensure that our views are positive, our eye looks for what our brain wants. The conspiracy between these two servants allows us to live at the fulcrum of stark reality and comforting illusion.

Daniel Gilbert
Eye, Reality, Views
Daniel Gilbert (2006). “Stumbling on Happiness”, Vintage

The mistakes we make when we try to imagine our personal futures are also lawful, regular, and systematic. They, too, have a pattern that tells us about the powers and limits of foresight in much the same way that optical illusions tell us about the powers and limits of eyesight.

Daniel Gilbert
Mistake, Trying, Patterns
Daniel Gilbert (2006). “Stumbling on Happiness”, p.16, Vintage

You May Also Like: