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Happiness

by Will Ferguson · 2001

When an enormous, self-help manuscript lands on Edwin de Valu's desk, it seems destined for the trash can. The trouble is this doorstopper is a unique thing--a self-help book that actually works--and before Edwin knows it, a… more

8 quotes ★ 3.77 (4,342) Fiction

Quotes from the Book

The two most important phrases in the human language are "If only" and "Maybe someday". Our past mistakes and our unrequited longings. The things we regret and the things we yearn for. That's what makes us who we are.
65
Obviously, he needed to kill Bubba, but how? The man was a trained prison guard twice his size. The tax auditors had been easy. Mr. Ethics had slapped them to death with their own attaché cases. And even then, his neighbours had chipped in to help him hide the bodies. "A tax auditor, you say? No problem. Let me get my spade.
8
Human nature, at its best, had always been based on a deep heroic restlessness, on wanting something--something else, something more, whether it be true love or a glimpse just beyond the horizon. It was the promise of happiness, not the attainment of it, that had driven the entire engine, the folly and glory of who we are.
7
Hellraisers destroy only themselves, and they do it because they love life too much to fall asleep.
3
You know, kid, ethics isn't about choosing between right and wrong; it's about choosing between grey and grey. It's about choosing between two equally desirable but mutually exclusive courses of action. Freedom or security? Courage or comfort? Self-examination or blissful happiness? Column A or Column B?
2
There, stacked high on his desk, was a tower of paper. Thick slabs of manuscript. Slush. Unsolicited, unagented, unloved. This was where dreams came to die. Book proposals, cover letters, entire manuscripts – they gathered like so much detritus on the desks of publishers everywhere.
2
Fear of death and the desire to live on, somehow, if only through our children. Or our grandchildren. Quixotic quest for immortality. It's sad and heroic and doomed - all at the same time.
2
Cała nasza ekonomia opiera się na ludzkich słabostkach,na złych nawykach i lękach.Moda.Bary fast food.Elektroniczne gadżety.Erotyczne zabawki.Ośrodki dietetyczne.Ogłoszenia towarzyskie.Skrajne sekty religijne.Salony fryzjerskie.Kryzys wieku średniego u mężczyzn.Szał zakupów.Całe nasze życie zbudowane jest na wątpliwościach i braku satysfakcji.Pomyśl,co by się stało,gdyby ludzie byli naprawdę,szczerze szczęśliwi.Całkowicie zadowoleni ze swojego życia.Nastąpiłby kataklizm
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About Will Ferguson

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About the book

When an enormous, self-help manuscript lands on Edwin de Valu's desk, it seems destined for the trash can. The trouble is this doorstopper is a unique thing--a self-help book that actually works--and before Edwin knows it, a chain of events has been started that will have enormous consequences not just for his own life, but for the world at large.

Book details

First published
2001
Genre
Fiction
Goodreads rating
3.77 (4k ratings)

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