The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

sure to be the source of an unhappy life. To
recognise that your merit is not so great as you had
hoped may be more painful for a moment, but it is
a pain which has an end, beyond which a happy
life again becomes possible.
Our third maxim was not to expect too much of
others. It used to be customary for invalid ladies to
expect at least one of their daughters to sacrifice
themselves completely in performing the duties of
a nurse, even to the extent of forgoing marriage.
This is to expect of another a degree of altruism
which is contrary to reason, since the loss to the
altruist is greater than the gain to the egoist. In all
your dealings with other people, especially with
those who are nearest and dearest, it is important
and not always easy to remember that they see life
from their own angle and as it touches their own
ego, not from your angle and as it touches yours.
No person should be expected to distort the main
lines of his life for the sake of another individual.
On occasion there may exist such a strong affection
that even the greatest sacrifices become natural,