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Differ though we might with Christianity’s view of what precisely our souls need, it is hard to discredit the provocative underlying thesis.

Alain de Botton

Happiness is impossible for longer than 15 minutes. We are the descendants of creatures who, above all else, worried.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Above Creature Descendant Happiness Impossible Longer Minute Worry
It wasn’t only fanatics and drunkards who began conversations with strangers in public.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Began Conversation Drunkard Fall Humiliate Public Stranger
Politics is so difficult, it’s generally only people who aren’t quite up to the task who feel convinced they are.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Convince Difficult Feel Generally Only People Politics Quite Task
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 BOTTON

Along End Get Idea Want Wnough Worse
We need objects to remind us of the commitments we’ve made. That carpet from Morocco reminds us of the impulsive, freedom-loving side of ourselves we’re in danger of losing touch with. Beautiful furniture gives us something to live up to. All designed objects are propaganda for a way of life.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Carpet Commitment Freedom Impulsive Need Object Remind
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.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Analyse Arrogance Cause Important More Philosophy Reason Relationship Say Write
It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.
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Beautiful Like Live Most Perhaps Problematic Receptive Thing
It is by finding out what something is not that one comes closest to understanding what it is.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Close Come Find Something Understanding
The greatest difficulty of Travel is that one is forced to take oneself along.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Along Difficult Force Greatest Oneself Travel
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.
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Conscious Contribute Create Enthusiasm Guide Merely More Single
Those who divorce aren’t necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.
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Belive Cause Divorce Most Neat Necessary Other Unhappy
The good parent: someone who doesn’t mind, for a time, being hated by their children.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Children Good Hate Mind Parent Someone Time
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 BOTTON

Always Flawless Mediocrity Object Perspective Thing Throw Wish
I feel that the great challenge of our time is the communication of ideas.
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Challenge Communication Feel Great Idea Time
If one felt successful, there’d be so little incentive to be successful.
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Felt Incentive Successful
Maturity: knowing where you’re crazy, trying to warn others of the fact and striving to keep yourself under control.
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Control Crazy Know Maturity Try Under
Literature is the greatest reality simulator – a machine that puts you through infinitely more situations than you can ever directly witness.
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Direct Great Literature Machine Put Reality Simulator Witness
In their different ways, art and philosophy help us, in Schopenhauer’s words, to turn pain into knowledge.
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Art Different Help Knowledge Pain People Philosophy Way Word
Journeys are the midwives of thought. Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than moving planes, ships or trains.
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Conducive Conversation Few Internal Journey Mindwive Move Place Plane Ship Train
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.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Conscious Employing Less Medium Pay Rather Substitute Supplement Used
There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.
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Balance Everything Fight Life Such Thing Unbalance Work
Our homes do not have to offer us permanent occupancy or store our clothes to merit the name. To speak of home in relation to a building is simply to recognise its harmony with our own prized internal song. Home can be an airport or a library, a garden or a motorway diner.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Home Merit Name Occupancy Permanent Speak
You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you’re annoyed with them.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Annoy Heavily Honor Invest Quite Someone Tell
In a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Devotion Religion replace Reverence Secular Touchstone World
If we are inclined to forget how much there is in the world besides that which we anticipate, then works of art are perhaps a little to blame, for in them we find at work the same process of simplification or selection as in the imagination.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Anticipate Art Besides Forget Inclined Much Perhaps World
A ‘good job’ can be both practically attractive while still not good enough to devote your entire life to.
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Devote Enough Entire Good Job Life Practically
Most good thinking has its origin in fear.
ALAIN DE BOTTON

Fera Good Most Origin Think

Differ though we might with Christianity’s view of what precisely our souls need, it is hard to discredit the provocative underlying thesis.

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Differ though we might with Christianity’s view of what precisely our souls need, it is hard to discredit the provocative underlying thesis.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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