# What The Psychology of Habit and Novelty means in Table-Talk

> Hazlitt contrasts the 'bigot' who clings to custom and the 'sceptic' who chases novelty, showing how both extremes are driven by a lack of genuine reflection, and how people often prefer the comfort of routine or the thrill of the new over reasoned judgment.

## Explanation

Hazlitt contrasts the 'bigot' who clings to custom and the 'sceptic' who chases novelty, showing how both extremes are driven by a lack of genuine reflection, and how people often prefer the comfort of routine or the thrill of the new over reasoned judgment.

Hazlitt discusses how familiarity breeds contempt for his own writings, while the novelty of painting keeps him engaged and happy.

Hazlitt explores how habit coils around the heart, stifling feeling, and how the craving for novelty and strong stimuli arises from over-exertion of the mind.

Cobbett's constant pursuit of new opinions and his fickleness are examined as psychological traits that give his writing vigor but undermine consistency.

Hazlitt explores how a single idea can become a habitual obsession, dominating an individual's thoughts and actions to the point of derangement.

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