If it were in fact possible to remould this sorry scheme of things `nearer to the heart’s desire’, and if the impermanent could by some magic of transmutation be made permanent, then there might not be any harm in our enjoying this or that object of the senses. But things being constituted as they are, the objects of enjoyment disintegrate in our very grasp, as ice melts when clasped in a warm hand, and the result is suffering. Happiness can be attained either when existence accords with our desires, or when our desires are in harmony with existence. True, the second alternative is difficult; but the first is impossible. If we cannot gain happiness by refashioning the world we shall have to find it by reforming ourselves. Compound things are indeed painful because they are impermanent; but that impermanency is not so much the cause as the occasion of our suffering. The root cause is desire. Happiness comes only when we desire and are attached to – nothing. And that happiness is eternal.
Sangharakshita from A Survey of Buddhism – chapter 1, part 18
