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

if he finds the contemplation of the universe painful
beyond a point, he will contemplate something else
instead. This is what I wish to prove in the present
chapter. I wish to persuade the reader that,
whatever the arguments may be, reason lays no
embargo upon happiness; nay, more, I am
persuaded that those who quite sincerely attribute
their sorrows to their views about the universe are
putting the cart before the horse: the truth is that
they are unhappy for some reason of which they are
not aware, and this unhappiness leads them to
dwell upon the less agreeable characteristics of the
world in which they live.
It is fortunate for literary men that people no longer
read anything written long ago, for if they did they
would come to the conclusion that, whatever may
be said about pools of water, the making of new
books is certainly vanity. If we can show that the
doctrine of Ecclesiastes is not the only one open to
a wise man, we need not trouble ourselves much
with the later expressions of the same mood.