I am convinced that boredom is the greatest of all tortures. Yet it seems that life’s purpose is to pass in this way: we seek rest by struggling against certain obstacles, and once they are overcome, rest proves intolerable because of the boredom it produces. To escape this boredom, man works either beyond what his usual needs require, or else he invents play, that is, work that is designed to quiet no need other than that for working in general. Want and boredom are indeed the twin poles of human life. This is perhaps the most disheartening aspect of life More >