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
stupid ideas people
The fear of saying something stupid (which stupid people never have) has censored far more good ideas than bad ones.
envy trying next
We should keep a careful diary of our moments of envy: they are our covert guides to what we should try to do next.
motivation inspiration oxford
Let's say you went to Harvard or Oxford or Cambridge, and you said, 'I've come here because I'm in search of morality, guidance and consolation; I want to know how to live,' - they would show you the way to the insane asylum.
smell light childhood
Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits, lights of day, smells, textures of carpet.
lazy sloth quoting
There is always the option of being emotionally lazy, that is, of quoting.
dream believe destiny
The longing for a destiny is no nowhere stronger than in our romantic life. All too often forced to share our bed with those who cannot fathom our soul, can we not be forgiven if we believe ourselves fated to stumble one day upon the man or woman of our dreams.
love may ends
...if the beginnings of love and amorous politics are equally rosy, then the ends may be equally bloody.
media people benefits
Social media has lots of benefits, but compared to Christianity, it tends to group people by interests. Religion puts you with people who have nothing in common except that you're human.
atheist thinking trying
As an atheist, I think there are lots of things religions get up to which are of value to non-believers - and one of those things is trying to be a bit better than we normally manage to be.
laughter optimistic laughing
I am in general a very pessimistic person with an optimistic, day- to- day take on things. The bare facts of life are utterly terrifying. And yet, one can laugh. Indeed, one has to laugh precisely because of the darkness: the nervous laughter of the trenches.
space manipulation shy
Architects themselves tend to shy away from the word, preferring instead to talk about the manipulation of space.
distance curiosity might
Curiosity might be pictured as being made up of chains of small questions extending outwards, sometimes over huge distances, from a central hub composed of a few blunt, large questions.
art feelings might
Art cannot single-handedly create enthusiasm... it merely contributes to enthusiasm and guides us to be more conscious of feelings that we might previously have experienced only tentatively or hurriedly.
envy people generosity
The company of certain people may excite our generosity and sensitivity, while that of others awakens our competitiveness and envy.