When it comes right down to it...
 

Okay, we all know that Elves were supposed to be the most beautiful and skillful creatures ever to set foot on Arda, but when it comes right down to it, can we really say it would be better to be an elf or that they're better than Men? I've been thinking about this for awhile, and it's beginning to seem like being an immortal elf isn't all its cracked up to be. Elves seem to have many of the same faults that people do; jealosy, anger, bloodlust, hatred, lust etc. And their immortal nature does seem to present them from being more curious about lfe. I mean, if you've been around for 3,000+ years, life can get pretty boring, I imagine, but Men, with their short life spans, feel the need to go out an accomplish their dreams as soon as possible. Don't get me wrong, I love the Elves, but I'm beginning to realize that being an Elf is more than just singing songs about stars. I imagine every ME race has its pros and cons though.

Well, that kinda goes along the lines of mortality being the "doom of Men" and immortality being the "doom of Elves".
The grass always looks greener on the other side, but when you hop the fence the grass may look greener on the side you just hopped from.

I believe that elves and men are different but equal. It is easy for elves to seem superior to men at first glance because the gifts that Illuvatar gave to men are strange: death, and restlessness to seek beyond the world, and the power to shape their own fate beyond that which was laid down by the music of the Ainur. That is why men often stray from the light.
Elves have the greater bliss, but I think that men have a greater influence on the world's fate.

Elves, are men as if they had never left the Garden of Eden.
Qoute from Tolkien in the Autobiography

I don't know if I would say Elves are like Men in the Garden of Eden. Remember Adam and Eve were innocent befor eating the apple from the Tree of Life ad afterwards they kne the diference between good and evil. The Elves definate know the dffererence and they do a fair amount of killing, lusting and other stuff (examples: Feanor, Eol, Celegorm, Cufurin, etc.) They're people too, I suppose, or they have many of the same flaws that humans do at any rate.

There are pros and cons to both. Elves are immortal, and their memory lasts for ages,but men grow old and die, and lessons they learn are quickly forgotten. However, The Gift (or Doom) of Men allows them to die and to be free from the circles of the world, whereas elves are forever bound to Arda.

Quote from ch. 1 of Quenta Silmarillion:
Before i read the Sil i had thought that Elves are what Man would have been like if not for the fall of Adam and Eve, but in LOTR, it was all from the perspective of men, hobbits, dwarves...to them, elves seemed Magical because they (hobbits, men, etc) knew so little about the elves. Now i think i'd still rather be human. Although i'd like to dwell in the bliss of Valinor or Tol Erresea, i'd probably wnat to be free from the circles of the world one day rather than be bound to it forever.