““The sole cause of man’s unhappiness,” Pascal wrote in his Pensées, “is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.” If we were not tempted to venture out, we would never have to experience the disappointments inherent in travel: that arch is not so triumphant; that tower’s not so leaning; that Mona’s not so Lisa. The fault is not in the three-star sights but in ourselves, that we are the same underlings we were when we were at home–just as prone to boredom, anxiety, and petty thoughts, in spite of the radical change of scene. I can be just as unhappy in front of the rose window at Chartres as I am at my kitchen sink. In fact, I can be more unhappy because I believe I should be happier. The””
![“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the [external] situation but your thoughts about it.” quote by Robert S. Rosenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3f8/robert-s-rosenthal-55596_sadness_the-primary-cause-of-unhappiness-is-neve_35645.jpg)
