More from Alain de Botton
A good half of the art of living is resilience.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton Because it’s bad enough not getting what you want, but it’s even worse to have an idea of what it is you want and find out at the end of the journey that it isn’t, in fact, what you wanted all along.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton When Proust urges us to evaluate the world properly, he repeatedly reminds us of the value of modest scenes.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton Wealth is not an absolute. It is relative to desire. Every time we yearn for something we cannot afford, we grow poorer, whatever our resources. And every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton I feel that the great challenge of our time is the communication of ideas.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton It is by finding out what something is not that one comes closest to understanding what it is.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton One rarely falls in love without being as much attracted to what is interestingly wrong with someone as what is objectively healthy.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton We keep a special place in our hearts for people who refuse to be impressed by us.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton 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.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton When work is not going well, it’s useful to remember that our identities stretch beyond what is on the business card, that we were people long before we became workers – and will continue to be human once we have put our tools down forever.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton We are all more intelligent than we are capable, and awareness of the insanity of love has never saved anyone from the disease.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton In the oasis complex, the thirsty man images he sees water, palm trees, and shade not because he has evidence for the belief, but because he has a need for it. Desperate needs bring about a hallucination of their solution: thirst hallucinates water.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton Travel agents would be wiser to ask us what we hope to change about our lives rather than simply where we wish to go.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton What we seek, at the deepest level, is inwardly to resemble, rather than physically to possess, the objects and places that touch us through their beauty.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton The flawless object throws into perspective the mediocrity that surrounds it. We are reminded of the way we would wish things always to be and of how incomplete our lives remain.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton Not being understood may be taken as a sign that there is much in one to understand.
Alain de BottonAlain de Botton
Original quotes
From our community writers
Our only limitation is that we only believe what is visible to our eyes and audible to our ears.
Shilpa GoelShilpa Goel Some days, you will be close to the finish line and still not make it.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.
Bell HooksBell Hooks I separated someplace for each person in my heart, But she claimed to be the owner of it.
Moses AlexanderMoses Alexander Modern-day love stories are born not out of love, but a tired mind and a restless heart.
Puneet MehraPuneet Mehra Forcing things only creates more tension in the mind. Let go.
Ayaka HaseAyaka Hase It doesn’t take courage to find peace in the arms of destiny. It takes faith.
Anamika GargAnamika Garg I can’t wait to collect memories from every corner of the earth to splash in the vastness of this beautiful world.
Julia Kellogg HenryJulia Kellogg Henry
Meet the writers
More on everyone
Silently hear everyone.
Chinmayananda SaraswatiChinmayananda Saraswati Everyone talks about how they knew the Bond films were going to be a success, but it simply isn’t true.
Sean ConnerySean Connery Everyone wants to be safe. Well, I got news for you: You can’t be safe. Life’s not safe. Your work isn’t safe.
LemmyLemmy Everyone gets depressed. But what do you do? You just go through it.
LemmyLemmy Everybody that’s successful lays a blueprint out.
Kevin HartKevin Hart Long Beach is the best. I tell everyone that.
Mario AndrettiMario Andretti My goal is to make everyone and anyone a Kevin Hart fan.
Kevin HartKevin Hart Any hand that I’ve shaken, any person that I met when I was Joe Blow, now that I’m this guy Kevin Hart, has come back. That’s why I treat everybody with respect. I’m always a nice pleasant guy to meet because when they come back to you, they remember.
Kevin HartKevin Hart
