The difference between hope and despair is a different way of telling stories from the same facts.
ALAIN DE BOTTONTo be shown love is to feel ourselves the object of concern: our presence is noted, our name is registered, our views are listened to, our failings are treated with indulgence and our needs are ministered to. And under such care, we flourish.
More Alain de Botton Quotes
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Rage is caused by a conviction, almost comic in its optimistic origins (however tragic in its effects), that a given frustration has not been written into the contract of life.
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In the gap between who we wish one day to be and who we are at present, must come pain, anxiety, envy and humiliation.
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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.
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In a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion.
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Our greatest furies spring from events which violate our sense of the ground of our existence.
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When you look at the Moon, you think, ‘I’m really small. What are my problems?’ It sets things into perspective. We should all look at the Moon a bit more often.
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One of the better guarantors of ending up in a good relationship: an advanced capacity to be alone.
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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.
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Art holds out the promise of inner wholeness.
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People only get really interesting when they start to rattle the bars of their cages.
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Every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess.
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We need a refuge to shore up our states of mind, because so much of the world is opposed to our allegiances. We need our rooms to align us to desirable versions of ourselves and to keep alive the important, evanescent sides of us.
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There is real danger of a disconnect between what’s on your business card and who you are deep inside, and it’s not a disconnect that the world is ready to be patient with.
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It is perhaps sad books that best console us when we are sad.
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The mind may be reluctant to think properly when thinking is all it is supposed to do; the task can be as paralysing as having to tell a joke or mimic an accent on demand.
ALAIN DE BOTTON