"I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'"
Such serendipity to hear the author speak the words, when I came across this Kurt Vonnegut lecture on the Shapes of Stories. His Uncle Alex would frequently say them aloud at family get togethers. A viral-worthy phrase. Infectious gratitude!
The lecture on the Shape of Stories was humorous as well as a unique way of mapping the arc of a character's journey.
The straight line on the graphic above is Vonnegut mapping Hamlet and remarking on how the genius of Shakespeare is the lifelike ambiguity that keeps us from knowing whether developments are "good" or "bad." He did stop short of quoting the famous line, "for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
Which is why it IS so important to notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur, "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."
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