THE TYRANNY OF EPITHUMIA/HEDONE

Recently my own flaws have led me down the primrose path that is everything but straight and narrow, picking primroses and chasing flutterbyes in pursuit of Downfall...

So, being a pagan, I looked away from the primrose path to Stoicism, where the positive passions are Epithumia and Hedone: variously translated as Lust, Delight, Hope, or Desire, I recognised it as my own besetting passions!

Sub-passions:

• Lust (epithumia): Lust is an irrational desire, or pursuit of an expected good but in reality bad.
• Delight (hēdonē): Delight is an irrational swelling, or a fresh opinion that something good is present, at which people think it right to be elated.
• Lust: Anger, Rage, Hatred, Enmity, Wrath, Greed, and Longing. (Hope)
• Delight: Malice, Rapture, and Ostentation. (Joy)

An analogy within the animal kingdom would be the anglerfish... With its glow in the dark decoy...

The corresponding trope would be Wanting Is Better Than Having. 

(Oh when will stupid --self-indulgent for a Ravenclaw-- me learn the age-old lesson?). I would have devoured the first marshmallow head first...

“Lifetime regrets are more painful than delayed gratification.” — Dawn Graham

“Be careful not to compromise what you want most for what you want now.” — Zig Ziglar

“Without delayed gratification, there is no power over self.” — Sunday Adelaja

“Never give up what you want most for what you want today.” — Neal A. Maxwell

"And don't forget the presents. How... How full of potential they seem in all that paper, how pregnant with possibilities... and then you open them and basically the wrapping paper was more interesting and you have to say 'How thoughtful, that will come in handy!'"

— Hogfather, Sir Terry Pratchett

After you get what you want, you don't want it
If I gave you the moon,
You'd grow tired of it soon.
You're like a baby
You want what you want when you want it
But after you are presented
With what you want, you're discontented.
You're always wishing and wanting for something
When you get what you want
You don't want what you get
And tho' I sit upon your knee
You'll grow tired of me
'Cause after you get what you want
You don't want what you wanted at all.

— Irving Berlin, "After You Get What You Want, You 

The tree was clearly taking their bait, or they were taking its bait, or both. Either way, here it was, the adventure had arrived. There was a time when this had been his most passionate hope, when it would have ravished him with happiness. Why now, when it was actually happening, did the seductions of Fillory feel so crude and unwanted? Its groping hands so clumsy? He thought he'd left this feeling behind long ago in Brooklyn, or at least at Brakebills. How could it have followed him here, of all places? How far did he have to run? If Fillory failed him he would have nothing left! A wave of frustration and panic surged through him. He had to get rid of it, break the pattern!

— The Magicians

J.D.'s narration: I think that the problem with most people who want what they can't have is that, when they actually get the thing they covet, they don't want it anymore. But not this guy.
Elliot: Well, Dr. Dorian, you have me. You finally have me.
J.D.'s thoughts: Oh, my God! I DON'T WANT HER!

— Scrubs, My Fault

"There are two great tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want... the other is getting it."

— Oscar Wilde

"We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified."

— Aesop

Robin: You're the one who always comes through for me, Ted. The one who's there for me. Maybe I'm making a mistake.
Ted: Wait, what are you saying?
Robin: Maybe I should be marrying you. [...] Ted...I should be with you.
Future Ted: (narrating) There it was. The words that some deep, dark part of me always wanted to hear. But it's funny. Once you actually hear those words out loud...
Ted: (present) I don't want to hear that.
Robin: We should get out of here. You and me, right now. We'll move to Chicago, we'll start a new life, it'll be painful at first, but hell, I can root for the Blackhawks.
Ted: Stop, stop, you're just saying this because you're scared! I am not your future, Barney is.
Robin: Shouldn't I be with a guy that finds me my locket? The guy who steals me the blue French horn? I mean, look me in the eye and tell me why shouldn't I be with that guy?
Ted: Because I'm not that guy anymore.

— How I Met Your Mother, "The End of the Aisle"

Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it — namely, that in order to make (one) covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain."

— The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

"Stonn, she is yours. After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical... but it is often true."

— Spock, Star Trek: The Original Series, "Amok Time"

So when the race is won
And there's nothing left to do
Alone again,
But where are you?

— Graham Gouldman, "Love's Not For Me", Animalympics

"Some things are beautiful because they cannot be obtained."

— Gilgamesh, Fate/stay night

"You really don't understand, do you? I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted? Just like that, and it didn't mean anything. What then?"

— Coraline