Alain de Botton Quotes

"We never envy another's achievement more than when we know very little about how it was attained."

on Wisdom

"Judged against eternity, how little of what agitates us makes any difference."

on Philosophy

"What kills us isn't one big thing, but thousands of tiny obligations we can't turn down for fear of disappointing others."

on Life

"We study biology, physics, movements of glaciers... Where are the classes on envy, feeling wronged, despair, bitterness..."

on Education

"It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things."

on Life

"Journeys are the midwives of thought. Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than moving planes, ships or trains."

on Travel

"Maturity: knowing where you're crazy, trying to warn others of the fact and striving to keep yourself under control."

on Wisdom

"There is a devilishly direct relationship between the significance of an idea and how nervous we become at the prospect of having to think about it."

on Anxiety

"The difference between hope and despair is a different way of telling stories from the same facts."

on Life

"To appreciate life's small moments, it helps to have a sense the whole can never be made perfect."

on Life

"Most victories are, in the best way, acts of revenge."

on Philosophy

"He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that."

on Fear

"Being content is perhaps no less easy than playing the violin well: and requires no less practice."

on Life

"Politics is so difficult, it's generally only people who aren't quite up to the task who feel convinced they are."

on Politics

"In a secularising world, art has replaced religion as a touchstone of our reverence and devotion."

on Art