Once I began to consider everything as being of potential interest, objects released latent layers of value.
ALAIN DE BOTTONOut of the millions of people we live among, most of whom we habitually ignore and are ignored by in turn, there are always a few that hold hostage our capacity for happiness, whom we could recognize by their smell alone and whom we would rather die than be without.
More Alain de Botton Quotes
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I feel that the great challenge of our time is the communication of ideas.
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We don’t really learn anything properly until there is a problem, until we are in pain, until something fails to go as we had hoped … We suffer, therefore we think.
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We read the weird tales in newspapers to crowd out the even weirder stuff inside us.
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Endeavoring to purchase something we think beautiful may in fact be the most unimaginative way of dealing with the longing it excites in us, just as trying to sleep with someone may be the bluntest response to a feeling of love.
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Architects themselves tend to shy away from the word, preferring instead to talk about the manipulation of space.
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Don’t despair: despair suggests you are in total control and know what is coming. You don’t – surrender to events with hope.
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The problem is if you really believe in a society where those who merit to get to the top, get to the top, you’ll also, by implication … believe in a society where those who deserve to get to the bottom also get to the bottom and stay there.
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The fear of saying something stupid (which stupid people never have) has censored far more good ideas than bad ones.
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It is striking how much more seriously we are likely to be taken after we have been dead a few centuries.
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You need a long hard day’s work to reveal the logic of the craving for very bad tv and alcohol.
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We may seek a fortune for no greater reason than to secure the respect and attention of people who would otherwise look straight through us.
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Writing isn’t a career choice. It’s self-medication that over time precipitates the madness it was meant to ward off.
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The arrogance that says analysing the relationship between reasons and causes is more important than writing a philosophy of shyness or sadness or friendship drives me nuts. I can’t accept that.
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Do you love me enough that I may be weak with you? Everyone loves strength, but do you love me for my weakness? That is the real test.
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Getting to the top has an unfortunate tendency to persuade people that the system is OK after all.
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