“For thousands of years we’ve known that if you think life is only about money and status, you’ll feel miserable. We know that a steady diet of junk food will make you sick. A steady diet of junk values does the same thing. . . .
“An intrinsic value is something you do for the joy of doing it. An extrinsic value is something you do because you have to. Dr. [Tim] Kasser found that when societies move toward extrinsic values, depression increases.
“A few years ago, Melania Trump was asked if she would have married Donald if he was not rich. Her answer was stunning. Do you think he would he have married me if I was not beautiful? she replied. This is a clear example of living extrinsically.”
–Johann Hari, author of Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression and the Unexpected Solutions, in interview with Eleanor Bader
(The entire interview is well worth reading.)
