Arthur C. Brooks argues that lasting satisfaction comes from wanting less, not more. He contrasts Western art as adding brushstrokes to a canvas with the Chinese view of revealing a masterpiece already inside jade by removing material. Apply this to life: happiness emerges by chipping away what's extraneous, not by endless accumulation.
The key for you to get satisfaction at last is not for you to have more all the time. More what? More power, more pleasure, more money, more honor, more Instagram followers, more relationships, more, more, more, more. No, it's not to have more. It's to want less. Now, what does that mean? This art historian who also had a philosophical background was taking me through the National Palace Museum and we were stopped in front of this sculpture. I said, you know, even if I'd never been to China, I would know that this is not Western art. How does my brain know that? He said, when I say a work of art yet to be started, what image pops? What pops into your head? And I said, an empty canvas. That's right. He said, that's because you think of a work of art as immaculately conceived, as coming out of the artist's mind, and that more brushstrokes means the art is coming into existence. More paint means more art. He said, for me, when you say a work of art yet to be started, I think of an uncut block of jade. Why? Because for me, taking away the jade exposes the art. The work of art already exists. And I have to take away the rock that's not the art. And then he says something that blew my mind. He said, and that's also how you Westerners see your lives. You think that you're not complete until you have more. We think that we're not complete until we have less. You're adding brushstrokes and adding brushstrokes to your life. But if you're a successful person, by about 45, the canvas is full and your life's not getting better and you get really frustrated. All you Westerners are all frustrated. The reason is because, especially in the second half of your life, happiness comes when you're a block of jade and you're chipping it away because You're exposing the true work of art, which is the happy version of you that's inside the block of jade. Chip, chip, chip. You want to know how to have a happy life? This is what blew my mind on that day in that museum. You need to chip away until you find the true you.
