--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One kind of good book should leave you…" description: "\"One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the author know that about me?\" — Alain de Botton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/alain-de-botton-221_asking_one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-a_2852366.jpg" --- # One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the… ![“One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the author know that about me?” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/alain-de-botton-221_asking_one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-a_2852366.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/alain-de-botton-221_asking_one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-a_2852366.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/alain-de-botton-221_asking_one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-a_2852366.jpg) > “One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the author know that about me?” [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A good book resonates deeply, making the reader feel understood by the author. **In simple terms:** A good book makes you feel understood. Key Takeaway Seek books that reflect your inner self. Themes literature empathy self‑knowledge Mood reflective inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reading clubs - personal therapy - creative writing Key Concepts psychology narrative theory Questions to Reflect On - Which books have felt personal to you? - How does this resonance affect your life? A Different Perspective Not all books achieve this depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Asking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking/) [Asking Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking-did-1078300/) [Author Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/author-know-2000816/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Did Author](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/did-author-3802146/) [Good book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-book/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“How Did You Become an Author?!?!?!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-crook/how-did-you-become-an-author/) [Vincent Crook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-crook/) > [“The wall sawyer did not ask the little queen what she did. This was because in the little queen’s kingdom, people only volunteered their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meia-geddes/the-wall-sawyer-did-not-ask-the-little-queen-what-she-did-this-was/) [Meia Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meia-geddes/) > [“Instead of asking myself, Is her room clean? Did he ace that test? I’m asking, Did I connect with them in a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-welch/instead-of-asking-myself-is-her-room-clean-did-he-ace-that-test-i-m/) [Kristen Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-welch/) > [Asking me why I did or didn't do anything is generally pointless. How do I know? And asking me what I'll do in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-block/asking-me-why-i-did-or-didn-t-do-anything-is-generally-pointless-how/) [Lawrence Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-block/) > [Instead of just asking 'How did I do?' ask 'How can I do more?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-kaufman/instead-of-just-asking-how-did-i-do-ask-how-can-i-do-more/) [Ron Kaufman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-kaufman/) > [As the author you know how you want it to appear on screen and it's always the content dictating the form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/as-the-author-you-know-how-you-want-it-to-appear-on-screen-and-it-s/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [I always feel that as the author, once I know what a character is ashamed of, then I can go about making her truthful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-mohr/i-always-feel-that-as-the-author-once-i-know-what-a-character-is/) [Joshua Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-mohr/) > [I'm probably the only bestselling author you know who's written more books than she's read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/i-m-probably-the-only-bestselling-author-you-know-who-s-written-more/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [When you dream, you are an author, but you do not know how it will end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/when-you-dream-you-are-an-author-but-you-do-not-know-how-it-will-end/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [One of the agonies of being an author is to know when to stop writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/one-of-the-agonies-of-being-an-author-is-to-know-when-to-stop-writing/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [O, there is lovely to feel a book, a good book, firm in the hand, for its fatness holds rich promise, and you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-llewellyn/o-there-is-lovely-to-feel-a-book-a-good-book-firm-in-the-hand-for-its/) [Richard Llewellyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-llewellyn/) > [“Reading a good book is like taking a journey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-gulliford/reading-a-good-book-is-like-taking-a-journey/) [Emma Gulliford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-gulliford/) > [In Russia there is an emigration of intelligence: émigrés cross the frontier in order to read and to write good books. But in doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-russia-there-is-an-emigration-of-intelligence-migr-s-cross-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Those old hypocrites. They talk about killing witches but the Good Book’s full of magic. Turning the Nile to blood and parting the Red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/those-old-hypocrites-they-talk-about-killing-witches-but-the-good/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ann-shaffer/reading-good-books-ruins-you-for-enjoying-bad-books/) [Mary Ann Shaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ann-shaffer/) ## 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/) [Explore all 850 Alain de Botton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) ## More Asking quotes > [Why did Erich von Stronheim leave Germany? Why did Hitchcock leave England? If you were a director you'd like to work in Hollywood too.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-polanski/why-did-erich-von-stronheim-leave-germany-why-did-hitchcock-leave/) [Roman Polanski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-polanski/) > [And in your new lives you'll have to live entirely for that one sensation-that of imminent truth. And you're going to have to holler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/and-in-your-new-lives-you-ll-have-to-live-entirely-for-that-one/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“Stop asking yourself how or why and tell yourself you can." - Charmainism”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charmaine-smith-ladd/stop-asking-yourself-how-or-why-and-tell-yourself-you-can-charmainism/) [Charmaine Smith Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charmaine-smith-ladd/) > [Closing his eyes, he sent up a prayer to anyone who was listening, asking please, for God's sake, stop sending him signals that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/closing-his-eyes-he-sent-up-a-prayer-to-anyone-who-was-listening/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/people-will-identify-with-a-persecuted-minority-without-asking/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [If you're having a bad day already and everybody is just asking you petty questions, it drives people to the edge, or something really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-weixler/if-you-re-having-a-bad-day-already-and-everybody-is-just-asking-you/) [Jess Weixler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-weixler/) > [You never give away your heart; you lend it from time to time. If it were not so, how could we take it back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-never-give-away-your-heart-you-lend-it-from-time-to-time-if-it/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [I'm not asking people to feel sorry for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-abramoff/i-m-not-asking-people-to-feel-sorry-for-me/) [Jack Abramoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-abramoff/) > [The boldness of asking deep questions may require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept the answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/the-boldness-of-asking-deep-questions-may-require-unforeseen/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [Use Google Before Asking A Stupid Question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muskaan/use-google-before-asking-a-stupid-question/) [Muskaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muskaan/) > [There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. It's like asking: 'Can women breathe in and out?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-walters/there-were-people-asking-can-women-be-funny-people-still-ask-that-it/) [Julie Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-walters/) > [Whether that's speaking up in your job or asking for a promotion or saying, 'I think I can do that.' Using your voice in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/whether-that-s-speaking-up-in-your-job-or-asking-for-a-promotion-or/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [Love cannot be had for the asking; it comes only as a gift from the heart of another](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/love-cannot-be-had-for-the-asking-it-comes-only-as-a-gift-from-the/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [The Baseball Hall of Fame is something every player dreams about, but being a member of God's Hall of Fame is the greatest achievement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-carter/the-baseball-hall-of-fame-is-something-every-player-dreams-about-but/) [Gary Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-carter/) > [“In such a regime, I say you died a good death if your life had inspired someone to come forward and shoot your murdered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/in-such-a-regime-i-say-you-died-a-good-death-if-your-life-had/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) [Browse all 3,313 Asking quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asking/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the author know that about me?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alain de Botton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-asking-how-did-the-author-know/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Asking" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-asking-how-did-the-author-know/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/alain-de-botton-221_asking_one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-a_2852366.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/alain-de-botton-221_asking_one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-a_2852366.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e02/alain-de-botton-221_asking_one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-a_2852366.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the author know that about me?” — Alain de Botton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alain de Botton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One kind of good book should...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-asking-how-did-the-author-know/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/one-kind-of-good-book-should-leave-you-asking-how-did-the-author-know/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```