Forcing people to eat together is an effective way to promote tolerance.
ALAIN DE BOTTONThe 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.
More Alain de Botton Quotes
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In the works of Lucretius, we find two reasons why we shouldn’t worry about death. If you have had a successful life, Lucretius tell us, there’s no reason to mind its end. And, if you haven’t had a good time, “Why do you seek to add more years, which would also pass but ill?”
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The telephone becomes an instrument of torture in the demonic hands of a beloved who doesn’t call.
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Maturity: knowing where you’re crazy, trying to warn others of the fact and striving to keep yourself under control.
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Rather than employing it as a supplement to active, conscious seeing, they used the medium as a substitute, paying less attention to the world than they had done previously, taking it on faith that photography automatically assured them possession of it.
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Not being understood may be taken as a sign that there is much in one to understand.
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One of the best protections against disappointment is to have a lot going on.
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The good parent: someone who doesn’t mind, for a time, being hated by their children.
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As adults, we try to develop the character traits that would have rescued our parents.
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Forgiveness requires a sense that bad behaviour is a sign of suffering rather than malice.
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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.
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The company of certain people may excite our generosity and sensitivity, while that of others awakens our competitiveness and envy.
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A ‘good job’ can be both practically attractive while still not good enough to devote your entire life to.
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How generous was it to offer gifts to people one knew would never accept them?
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Envy: a confused, tangled guide to one’s own ambitions.
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Socrates, on being insulted in the marketplace, asked by a passerby, “Don’t you worry about being called names?” retorted, “Why? Do you think I should resent it if an ass had kicked me?
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