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

the man who runs mad risks in aeroplanes or on
mountain tops, because life has become irksome to
him? If his risks serve any public object, we may
admire him, but it not, we shall have to place him
only slightly above the gambler and drunkard.
Genuine zest, not the sort that is really a search for
oblivion, is part of the natural make-up of human
beings except in so far as it has been destroyed by
unfortunate circumstances. Young children are
interested in everything that they see and hear; the
world is full of surprises to them, and they are
perpetually engaged with ardour in the pursuit of
knowledge, not, of course, of scholastic
knowledge, but of the sort that consists in acquiring
familiarity with the objects that attract their
attention. Animals, even when adult, retain their
zest provided they are in health. A cat in an
unfamiliar room will not sit down until it has
sniffed at every corner on the off-chance that there
may be a smell of mouse somewhere. The man
who has never been fundamentally thwarted will
retain his natural interest in the external world, and