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

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

on Life

"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

"One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the author know that about me?"

on Writing

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

on Wisdom

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

on Travel

"The pleasure we derive from journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to."

on Life

"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

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

on Art

"You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils, sunsets and uneventful nice days."

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

"If one felt successful, there'd be so little incentive to be successful."

on Success