Alain de Botton
Alain de Botton
Alain de Botton, FRSLis a Swiss-born, British-based self-help philosopher and public speaker. His books and television programmes discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. At 23, he published Essays in Love, which went on to sell two million copies. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life, Status Anxietyand The Architecture of Happiness...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth20 December 1969
believe mean light
to design means forcing ourselves to unlearn what we believe we already know, patiently to take apart the mechanisms behind our reflexes and to acknowledge the mystery and stupefying complexity of everyday gestures like switching off a light of turning on a tap
people care adrift
Serious journalists often imagine society is adrift because people don't know certain things. Yet often, they know but just don't care. So the task of serious journalism isn't just to lay out truths. It is to make vital truths compelling to a big audience.
world proust scene
When Proust urges us to evaluate the world properly, he repeatedly reminds us of the value of modest scenes.
significant-things people may
There may be significant things to learn about people by looking at what annoys them most.
thinking ideas nervous
There is a devilishly direct relationship between the significance of an idea and how nervous we become at the prospect of having to think about it.
sexy feelings excitement
The more closely we analyze what we consider 'sexy,' the more clearly we will understand that eroticism is the feeling of excitement we experience at finding another human being who shares our values and our sense of the meaning of existence.
ignorance dark knowing
Curiosity takes ignorance seriously - and is confident enough to admit when it's in the dark. It is aware of not knowing. And then it sets out to do something about it.
reality odds play
In reality, the likelihood of reaching the pinnacle of capitalist society today is only marginally better than were the chances of being accepted into the French nobility four centuries ago, though at least an aristocratic age was franker, and therefore kinder, about the odds. It did not relentlessly play up the possibilities open to all, ... and so, in turn, did not cruelly equate an ordinary life with a failed one.
jobs perfect excuse
I learnt to stop fantasising about the perfect job or the perfect relationship because that can actually be an excuse for not living.
falling-in-love health fall
One rarely falls in love without being as much attracted to what is interestingly wrong with someone as what is objectively healthy.
people important identity
People who hold important positions in society are commonly labelled "somebodies," and their inverse "nobodies"-both of which are, of course, nonsensical descriptors, for we are all, by necessity, individuals with distinct identities and comparable claims on existence. Such words are nevertheless an apt vehicle for conveying the disparate treatment accorded to different groups. Those without status are all but invisible: they are treated brusquely by others, their complexities trampled upon and their singularities ignored.
believe god-love bachs-music
Although I don't believe in God, Bach's music shows me what a love of God must feel like.
sadness feelings weakness
Most anger stems from feelings of weakness, sadness and fear: hard to remember when one is at the receiving end of its defiant roar.
way looks realising
The only way to be happy is to realise how much depends on how you look at things