---
title: "4 Dissatisfaction Quotes By Alain de Botton"
description: "4 Dissatisfaction quotes by Alain de Botton. Plus more from Alain de Botton and more Dissatisfaction sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/alain-de-botton-221_ability_he-was-marked-out-by-his-relentless-abil_468771.jpg"
---

> [He was marked out by his relentless ability to find fault with others' mediocrity--suggesting that a certain type of intelligence may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-was-marked-out-by-his-relentless-ability-to-find-fault-with-others/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/alain-de-botton-221_ability_he-was-marked-out-by-his-relentless-abil_468771.jpg)

> [The happiness that may emerge from taking a second look is central to Proust's therapeutic conception. It reveals the extent to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-happiness-that-may-emerge-from-taking-a-second-look-is-central-to/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84e/alain-de-botton-221_conception_the-happiness-that-may-emerge-from-takin_1138026.jpg)

> [“Blessed with riches and possibilities far beyond anything imagined by ancestors who tilled the unpredictable soil of medieval Europe, modern populations have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/blessed-with-riches-and-possibilities-far-beyond-anything-imagined-by/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ae/alain-de-botton-221_blessings_blessed-with-riches-and-possibilities-fa_1411935.jpg)

> [That said, deciding to avoid other people does not necessarily equate with having no desire whatsoever for company; it may simply reflect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/that-said-deciding-to-avoid-other-people-does-not-necessarily-equate/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d5/alain-de-botton-221_business_that-said-deciding-to-avoid-other-people_3166158.jpg)

## More by Alain de Botton

> [“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/to-be-mature-is-we-re-told-to-move-beyond-possessiveness-jealousy-is/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-feared-that-by-leaving-her-he-would-ruin-her-life-so-he-stayed-and/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/you-have-to-be-quite-heavily-invested-in-someone-to-do-them-the/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-anxiety-of-sunday-afternoon-your-unlived-lives-and-infinite/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/those-who-divorce-aren-t-necessarily-the-most-unhappy-just-those/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [“We could not be fulfilled if we weren't inauthentic some of the time—inauthentic, that is, in relation to such things as our passing desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-could-not-be-fulfilled-if-we-weren-t-inauthentic-some-of-the-time/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/insofar-as-we-appreciate-order-it-is-when-we-perceive-it-as-being/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/i-like-the-values-associated-with-a-medical-family-common-sense-being/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/anyone-who-urgently-needs-us-deserves-in-the-true-book-of-love-to-be/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/we-can-then-recognize-that-we-invented-religions-to-serve-two-central/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-perhaps-when-our-lives-are-at-their-most-problematic-that-we/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [“Does what is praised becomes better? Does an emerald become worse if it isn't praised? And what a gold, ivory, a flower or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/does-what-is-praised-becomes-better-does-an-emerald-become-worse-if/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

> [Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/reputation-matters-so-much-only-because-people-so-seldom-think-for/)

[Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/)

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