Ever since in the UK they banned smoking in public places I’ve never enjoyed drinks party ever again. And the reason I’ve only work out just the other day… which is, when you go to drinks party you stand up and hold a glass of a red wine and you talk endlessly to people, but you don’t want to spend all the time talking, it’s really, really tiring… sometimes you just want to stand silently, alone with your thoughts, sometimes you just want to stand in the corner and stare out of the window… but the problem is, when you can’t smoke if you stand and stare out of the window on your own, you are antisocial, friendless idiot, if you stand and stare out of the window on your own with a cigarette, you are fuckin’ philosopher… so, the power of reframing things cannot be overstated. What we have is the exactly same thing, the same activity, but the one makes you feel great, and the other, with just a small change of posture, makes you feel terrible.

Rory Sutherland: Perspective is everything, TED lecture