jeremy's Reviews > We Learn Nothing

one reason we rush so quickly to the vulgar satisfactions of judgment, and love to revel in our righteous outrage, is that it spares us from the impotent pain of empathy, and the harder, messier work of understanding.

witty and sagacious, tim kreider's writing is always entertaining. full of humor, cruel truths, self-deprecation, and hard-won wisdom, his essays make you think, make you feel, and make you laugh inappropriately loud. we learn nothing collects 14 pieces, spanning a broad swath of subjects, but which are all, ultimately, about the very same thing: this messy business of being mortal. come for the laughs, stay for the life lessons.

i don't know why we take our worst moods so much more seriously than our best, crediting depression with more clarity than euphoria. we dismiss peak moments and passionate love affairs as an ephemeral chemical buzz, just endorphins or hormones, but accept those 3 a.m. bouts of despair as unsentimental insights into the truth about our lives.