Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.

In Jorgenson’s compilation of his public words, Ravikant describes anticipating a new car and expecting an external acquisition to bring lasting satisfaction. He then explains that he tries to choose desires carefully and keep only one major desire at a time. The section also says that acting in the world and fulfilling one’s capacities are compatible with this criticism of craving.

Wanting an outcome can make present contentment conditional on something not yet obtained; noticing that bargain lets a person choose desires more carefully.

This is not a recommendation to abandon every goal or become inactive. In the same section Ravikant allows purposeful action and describes limiting, rather than eliminating, his major desires.

Life, Happiness, Suffering, Emotions, Wisdom

• God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. C. S. Lewis
• That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee. (paraphrase) Marcus Aurelius
• Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. Oscar Wilde
• The soul is dyed by the thoughts. Marcus Aurelius
• Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. (paraphrase) Aristotle

• nav.al/desire

Naval Ravikant, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant (2020), “Every Desire Is a Chosen Unhappiness”, paragraph beginning “Desire is a contract” (online edition). Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/desire-is-a-contract-you-make-with-yourself/ (28 October 2026).

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