"'Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand.'" pg. 221
Whenever people imagine themselves happy, they imagine that they are full of excitement and wonder. However, it is true that things can only excite someone for so long. The excitement of good things wears off in time, especially when those things are constantly accessible. It is a universal truth that happiness is never grand once it has set in. It creates a dull and lifeless world if it is always present. If one desires to be happy, they have to relinquish excitement and surprise.
People always imagine happiness wrong. They imagine that it's full of excitement and fail to realize the truth. Happiness means a lack of fluctuation in feelings. It means boredom, because some sadness is needed in life in order to appreciate the good.
In a world like the progressive world where people are always happy, it seems to someone who is not, like John, that they are unhappy. He can't comprehend that a world without feeling is happiness for them.
"some sadness is needed in life in order to appreciate the good."
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