Not being understood may be taken as a sign that there is much in one to understand. — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
The lesson? To respond to the unexpected and hurtful behavior of others with something more than a wipe of the glasses, to… — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
Learning to give up on perfection may be just about the most romantic move any of us could make. — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“gladly come back to the theme of the absurdity of our education: its end has not been to make us good and… — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
It is by finding out what something is not that one comes closest to understanding what it is. — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“Maturity/experience: the beguiling texture of stones subjected to years of furious seas.” — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“Our understanding of love has been hijacked and beguiled by its first distractingly moving moments. We have allowed our love stories to… — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“He entertains a confused wish to help her, without, however, understanding that help can be a challenging gift to deliver to those… — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“Importance of the random: keep brushing up against people, books, experiences we don't yet know what to do with.” — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
For all his understanding of worldly concerns, when it came to fathoming the deeper meaning of his own furious activity, Sir Bob… — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“To be mature is, we're told, to move beyond possessiveness. Jealousy is for babies. The mature person knows that no one owns anyone.” — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“He feared that by leaving her he would ruin her life - so he stayed, and did just that.” — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
“The Anxiety of Sunday afternoon: your unlived lives and infinite possibility pressing upon the constraints of reality.” — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
Those who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person. — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“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… — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“Insofar as we appreciate order, it is when we perceive it as being accompanied by complexity, when we feel that a variety of elements… — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
I like the values associated with a medical family - common sense, being practical but also thoughtful. — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“Anyone who urgently needs us deserves, in the true book of love, to be our friend.” — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“We can then recognize that we invented religions to serve two central needs which continue to this day and which secular society has not… — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.” — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things. — Alain de Botton Copy Share Image
