# The Psychology of Habit and Novelty in Table-Talk

> Theme guide for Table-Talk by William Hazlitt.

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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-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?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-endnotes): Notes on the psychology of gambling and the persistence of passion in achieving goals touch on habit and novelty.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/themes/the_psychology_of_habit_and_novelty
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/themes