It is, however, worth while to realise that exciting pleasures are not a road to happiness, although so long as more satisfying joys remain unattainable a man may find it hardly possible to endure life except by the help of excitement.
 Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness (1930). copy citation

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Author Bertrand Russell
Source The Conquest of Happiness
Topic excitement happiness
Date 1930
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://russell-j.com/beginner/COH-TEXT.HTM

Context

“I shau not, however, pursue this topic any further at present, since it comes under the heading of Envy, with which we shall be concerned in a later chapter. For the private individual, who cannot alter the laws and institutions under which he lives, it is difficult to cope with the situation that oppressive moralists created and perpetuate. It is, however, worth while to realise that exciting pleasures are not a road to happiness, although so long as more satisfying joys remain unattainable a man may find it hardly possible to endure life except by the help of excitement. In such a situation the only thing that a prudent man can do is to ration himself, and not to allow himself such an amount of fatiguing pleasure as will undermine his health or interfere with his work.” source