Table-Talk · Theme

The Psychology of Habit and Novelty

How Table-Talk develops The Psychology of Habit and Novelty.

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.

Where it surfaces

On the Pleasure of Painting
Hazlitt discusses how familiarity breeds contempt for his own writings, while the novelty of painting keeps him engaged and happy.
On the Past and Future
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.
Character of Cobbett
Cobbett's constant pursuit of new opinions and his fickleness are examined as psychological traits that give his writing vigor but undermine consistency.
On People with One Idea
Hazlitt explores how a single idea can become a habitual obsession, dominating an individual's thoughts and actions to the point of derangement.
On Living to One’s-Self
The chapter contrasts the habitual contentment of solitary contemplation with the restless, novelty-driven pursuit of public recognition.
On Will-Making
Hazlitt examines how testators act out of habit, whim, and caprice rather than reason, even in the face of death.
On Vulgarity and Affectation
Explored through the discussion of how people adopt opinions and manners unthinkingly from their social group, whether from habit or the desire for novelty.
On Going a Journey
The essay explores how travel and change of place refresh the mind and revive forgotten memories, highlighting the psychological effects of novelty.
On Coffeehouse Politicians
Coffeehouse politicians are depicted as addicted to novelty, consuming news as a habitual routine without deeper thought or lasting interest.
On Great and Little Things
Hazlitt examines how the mind's irritability is more easily provoked by small, unexpected frustrations than by large, anticipated evils, revealing the role of habit and novelty in emotional response.
On Effeminacy of Character
Discusses the habitual timidity and dilatoriness of certain characters, who are unable to act with decision due to ingrained weakness.
Why Distant Objects Please
Hazlitt examines how distance and rarity enhance pleasure, while familiarity and proximity diminish it, using examples of sounds, smells, and childhood memories.
Whether Actors Ought to Sit in the Boxes?
The essay explores how familiarity with an actor's real self breaks the illusion and novelty of their stage characters.
On the Knowledge of Character
Hazlitt discusses how familiarity with worst characters lessens abhorrence, and how habit shapes our judgments of others.
On the Picturesque and Ideal
The picturesque is tied to surprise and contrast (novelty), while the ideal is tied to sustained satisfaction and harmony (habitual longing).
On the Fear of Death
Hazlitt contrasts the modern, habitual clinging to life with the heroic, passionate embrace of death in earlier times, exploring how habit and novelty shape our fear of death.
Endnotes
Notes on the psychology of gambling and the persistence of passion in achieving goals touch on habit and novelty.