--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Public life is debased because it's only…" description: "\"“Public life is debased because it's only the nice people who are worried about imposing their views on others.”\" — Alain de Botton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d1/alain-de-botton-221_imposition_public-life-is-debased-because-it-s-only_249642.jpg" --- # Public life is debased because it's only the nice people… ![“Public life is debased because it's only the nice people who are worried about imposing their views on others.” quote by Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d1/alain-de-botton-221_imposition_public-life-is-debased-because-it-s-only_249642.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d1/alain-de-botton-221_imposition_public-life-is-debased-because-it-s-only_249642.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d1/alain-de-botton-221_imposition_public-life-is-debased-because-it-s-only_249642.jpg) > ““Public life is debased because it's only the nice people who are worried about imposing their views on others.”” [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. Public discourse degrades when only agreeable people fear imposing opinions, limiting honest debate. **In simple terms:** Nice people avoid conflict, harming public dialogue. Key Takeaway Encourage respectful disagreement. Themes civil discourse honesty public life Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political debates - community meetings - online forums - workplace discussions Key Concepts social conformity dialogue suppression Questions to Reflect On - How can we value dissent without hostility? - What mechanisms protect honest discourse? A Different Perspective Nice people may dominate, silencing dissent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nice people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nice-people/) [Public life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-life/) ## Related quotes > [Too many people are worried about having results NOW...the Mona Lisa was not created in a day. Perfection takes time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/too-many-people-are-worried-about-having-results-now-the-mona-lisa/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People are too worried a lot of times what other people in the audience are going to think about them, so they like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-norton/people-are-too-worried-a-lot-of-times-what-other-people-in-the/) [Jim Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-norton/) > [People are worried about their bodies. They're worried about disease. They're worried about how they are able to get out and participate in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-scalzi/people-are-worried-about-their-bodies-they-re-worried-about-disease/) [John Scalzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-scalzi/) > [Things have happened, having to do with many things including political correctness, where people are so worried about being politically correct that they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/things-have-happened-having-to-do-with-many-things-including/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [I think when you look at the letters that I get, a lot of people are worried that maybe they wouldn't have a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-think-when-you-look-at-the-letters-that-i-get-a-lot-of-people-are/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Let's talk about the real issues of crime which people are worried about. What people are worried about is the rise in violent crime.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-abbott/let-s-talk-about-the-real-issues-of-crime-which-people-are-worried/) [Diane Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-abbott/) > [And a lot of times in slam poetry I feel like people are so worried about the performance that the words might not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-tamblyn/and-a-lot-of-times-in-slam-poetry-i-feel-like-people-are-so-worried/) [Amber Tamblyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-tamblyn/) > [Most people are so worried about there appearance then their bills focus on your bills instead of your appearance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-kelly/most-people-are-so-worried-about-there-appearance-then-their-bills/) Travis Kelly > [People are sad. People are broke. People are worried about money, people are worried that they're not enough and not amounting to anything and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/people-are-sad-people-are-broke-people-are-worried-about-money-people/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [here are problems with the Turkish products inside Russia and the tourism going down. People are worried about that. But the really big economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kenyon/here-are-problems-with-the-turkish-products-inside-russia-and-the/) [Peter Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kenyon/) > [Some people are more worried about seeing you fail than seeing their own success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-are-more-worried-about-seeing-you-fail-than-seeing-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ I think I knew how frightened people were \[when Donald Trump was elected\], and I think I knew that people were worried about their… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/i-think-i-knew-how-frightened-people-were-when-donald-trump-was/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [A great many people in this country are worried about law-and-order. And a great many people are worried about justice. But one thing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramsey-clark/a-great-many-people-in-this-country-are-worried-about-law-and-order/) [Ramsey Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramsey-clark/) > [In other parts of the world where I go, people are worried about, Jeez, you know, I really wanted to buy my kids shoes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kilham/in-other-parts-of-the-world-where-i-go-people-are-worried-about-jeez/) [Chris Kilham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kilham/) > [People are worried about the degree to which corporate interest is starting to threaten human interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/people-are-worried-about-the-degree-to-which-corporate-interest-is/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) ## 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 Imposition quotes > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [Violence is fomented by the imposition of singular and belligerent identities on gullible people, championed by proficient artisans of terror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/violence-is-fomented-by-the-imposition-of-singular-and-belligerent/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [The sanctions may be imposed only by the decision of the UN Security Council. 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Free will enables us to do everything well while imposition makes a light burden heavy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/i-have-my-choice-who-can-wish-for-more-free-will-enables-us-to-do/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [These are my politics: to change what we can; to better what we can; but still to bear in mind that man is but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/these-are-my-politics-to-change-what-we-can-to-better-what-we-can-but/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [Where there is love, there is no imposition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/where-there-is-love-there-is-no-imposition/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A convention is a social pattern we have chosen to prefer over whatever the raw world simply proffers. It is a sign of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-bartlett-giamatti/a-convention-is-a-social-pattern-we-have-chosen-to-prefer-over/) [A. Bartlett Giamatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-bartlett-giamatti/) > [Poverty is an artificial, external imposition on a human being; it is not innate in a human being. And since it is external, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/poverty-is-an-artificial-external-imposition-on-a-human-being-it-is/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [Those who remain content easily remain small: small are their joys, small are their ecstasies, small are their silences, small is their being. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/those-who-remain-content-easily-remain-small-small-are-their-joys/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Liberals are not about choice; they are about imposition. 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