People live under the illusion that they know what they want, but this quote reveals how our desires are often shaped by external forces. It’s a powerful insight into the gap between our perceived and actual motivations. Understanding this can fundamentally change how you approach decision-making.
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Meaning
Our conscious wants are often just echoes of what society, marketing, or our peers have told us is valuable. The real driver is a deep-seated, often irrational, cognitive machinery.
Explanation
Look, here’s the thing I’ve seen play out a thousand times. We have this “System 1” – the fast, intuitive, emotional part of our brain. It’s easily swayed. It sees an ad for a luxury car not as a vehicle, but as a symbol of success. It hears our friends raving about a new tech gadget and instantly wants it to belong.
Then “System 2” – the slow, logical, lazy part – comes along and creates a rational-sounding story for that desire. “I need this car for its safety features.” “This gadget will make me more productive.” We convince ourselves that these manufactured wants are our own original thoughts. It’s a brilliant, self-deceptive magic trick our mind plays on us. Every. Single. Day.
Quote Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Category | Personal Development (697) |
| Topics | authenticity (101), desire (15), illusion (22) |
| Literary Style | poetic (635) |
| Emotion / Mood | introspective (55) |
| Overall Quote Score | 85 (305) |
Origin & Factcheck
This wisdom comes straight from Daniel Kahneman’s 2011 masterpiece, Thinking, Fast and Slow. It’s a cornerstone of his Nobel Prize-winning work on behavioral economics. You sometimes see similar sentiments floating around, but this specific, powerful phrasing is pure Kahneman, rooted in decades of rigorous research.
Attribution Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Author | Daniel Kahneman (54) |
| Source Type | Book (4032) |
| Source/Book Name | Thinking, Fast and Slow (54) |
| Origin Timeperiod | 21st Century (1892) |
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Authenticity | Verified (4032) |
Author Bio
Dr Daniel Kahneman transformed how we think about thinking. Trained in Israel and at UC Berkeley, he built a career spanning Hebrew University, UBC, UC Berkeley, and Princeton. His partnership with Amos Tversky produced prospect theory and the heuristics-and-biases program, culminating in the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He engaged broad audiences through bestselling books and practical frameworks for better decisions. He continued writing and advising late into life, leaving ideas that shape economics, policy, medicine, and management. If you want to dive deeper, start with the Dr Daniel Kahneman book list and explore his enduring insights.
| Official Website
Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | People live under the illusion that they know what they want, but often what they want is what they think they should want |
| Book Details | Publication Year: 2011; ISBN: 9780374275631; Latest Edition: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013; Number of pages: 499. |
| Where is it? | Part IV: Choices, Chapter 34: Frames and Reality, Approximate page 373 (2013 edition) |