So why isn't civilization set up to maximize our happiness and pleasure? Why does more civilization also mean more psychological suffering? You can't always get what you want, Freud noted in his 1930 short book, Civilization and its Discontents. Our desires are foiled not by bad luck, our failures, or the environment - but by the civilization meant to make life better. But life, even when our basic needs are met, often makes us unhappy. We want to be happy, we want to get what we want, we want to love and be loved. BOOKS 54: Anne Fernald on Virginia Woolf's 'Mrs.BOOKS 53: Paul Edwards on Toni Morrison's 'Playing in the Dark'.BOOKS 52: Linda Patterson Miller on Hemingway's 'The Sun Also Rises'.BOOKS 51: ARDYTHE ASHLEY ON OSCAR WILDE.BOOKS 49: 'The Good Life' with Dora Zhang.BOOKS 47: JANE AUSTEN'S PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.BOOKS 46: HAITIAN REVOLUTION IN LITERATURE.BOOKS 38: JAMES WELDON JOHNSON'S THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EX-COLORED MAN.BOOKS 34: KARL MARX'S THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO.BOOKS 33: OSCAR WILDE'S THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY.BOOKS 32: EMILY DICKINSON: ISOLATION AND INTERVENTION.BOOKS 31: TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE FOR MICHEL FOUCAULT.BOOKS 30: FRIGHTENINGLY RELEVANT: ALBERT CAMUS'S THE PLAGUE.BOOKS 29: WHY READ IN DARK TIMES? DANIEL DEFOE'S A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR.BOOKS 28: WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT BY IMMANUEL KANT.BOOKS 27: AMERICA'S INTELLECTUAL INDEPENDENCE: RALPH WALDO EMERSON.

BOOKS 26: FRANZ KAFKA (NOT THE WAY YOU KNOW HIM).BOOKS 25: JEAN TOOMER’S CANE WITH ISMAIL MUHAMMAD.BOOKS 24: JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU WITH MELISSA SCHWARTZBERG.BOOKS 23: THE MORALITY OF CLIMATE ACTION, WITH DALE JAMIESON.BOOKS 22: WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, WITH MAUREEN MCLANE.BOOKS 21: HANNAH ARENDT IS ALARMINGLY RELEVANT.BOOKS 20: PHILLIS WHEATLEY AND THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN TRADITION.BOOKS 19: SAMUEL BECKETT’S PLAY HAPPY DAYS.BOOKS 18: JESSICA BENJAMIN'S THE BONDS OF LOVE, WITH JESSICA BENJAMIN.BOOKS 17: CLAUDE LÉVI-STRAUSS'S TRISTES TROPIQUES, WITH DENIS HOLLIER.BOOKS 16: PAUL CELAN'S POETRY, WITH AMIR ESHEL.BOOKS 15: MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN, WITH JULIE CARLSON.BOOKS 14: RALPH WALDO ELLISON'S INVISIBLE MAN.BOOKS 12: SIGMUND FREUD'S CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS.BOOKS 11: ZORA NEALE HURSTON'S THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD.BOOKS 9: MARCEL PROUST'S IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME.BOOKS 7: SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR'S THE SECOND SEX.BOOKS 5: JAMES BALDWIN’S ANOTHER COUNTRY.BOOKS 4: NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE‘S THE SCARLET LETTER.BOOKS 3: VIRGINIA WOOLF’S TO THE LIGHTHOUSE.BOOKS 2: MAXINE HONG KINGSTON’S THE WOMAN WARRIOR.BOOKS 1: CHINUA ACHEBE'S THINGS FALL APART.

Civilization and its discontents book