'The quickest way to stop noticing something may be to buy it - just as the quickest way to stop appreciating a person may be to marry them. We are tempted to believe that certain achievements and possessions will guarantee us an enduring satisfaction. We are led to imagine ourselves scaling the steep sides of the cliff face of happiness to reach a wide, high plateau on which to continue our lives; we are not reminded that soon after reaching the summit we will be called down again into the fresh lowlands of anxiety and desire.'
Alain de Botton, Status Anxiety, p.207.
