Alain de Botton Quotes, Wisdom Quotes, Taken Quotes

Not being understood may be taken as a sign that there is much in one to understand.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Wisdom Quotes , Taken Quotes

To be loved by someone is to realize how much they share the same needs that lie at the heart of our own attraction to them. Albert Camus suggested that we fall in love with people because, from the outside, they look so whole, physically whole and emotionally 'together' - when subjectively we feel dispersed and confused. We would not love if there were no lack within us, but we are offended by the discovery of a similar lack in the other. Expecting to find the answer, we find only the duplicate of our own problem.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Falling In Love Quotes , Lying Quotes

It's very hard to respect people on holiday - everybody looks so silly at the beach, it makes you hate humanity - but when you see people at their work they elicit respect, whether it's a mechanic, a stonemason or an accountant.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Beach Quotes , Hate Quotes

Writing isn’t a career choice. It’s self-medication that over time precipitates the madness it was meant to ward off.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Writing Quotes , Self Quotes

Our disrespect for thinking: someone sitting in a chair, gazing out of a window blankly, always described as 'doing nothing'.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Thinking Quotes , Disrespect Quotes

That said, deciding to avoid other people does not necessarily equate with having no desire whatsoever for company; it may simply reflect a dissatisfaction with what—or who—is available. Cynics are, in the end, only idealists with awkwardly high standards. In Chamfort's words, 'It is sometimes said of a man who lives alone that he does not like society. This is like saying of a man that he does not like going for walks because he is not fond of walking at night in the forêt de Bondy.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Night Quotes , Men Quotes

Our responses to the world are crucially moulded by the company we keep, for we temper our curiosity to fit in with the expectations of others.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Friendship Quotes , Travel Quotes

As victims of hurt, we frequently don't bring up what ails us, because so many wounds look absurd in the light of day.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Hurt Quotes , Light Quotes

Responsible for wrapping the iron fist of authority in its velvet glove is Jane Axtell, head of the accountancy firm's Human Resources department.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Iron Quotes , Velvet Quotes

Wealth is not an absolute. It is relative to desire. Every time we yearn for something we cannot afford, we grow poorer, whatever our resources. And every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Desire Quotes , May Quotes

Not everyone is worth listening to.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes

We tend to believe in the modern secular world that if you tell someone something once, they'll remember it. ... Religions go, "Nonsense. You need to keep repeating the lesson 10 times a day. So get on your knees and repeat it." That's what all religions tell us: "Get on your knees and repeat it 10 or 20 or 15 times a day." Otherwise our minds are like sieves.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Believe Quotes , Mind Quotes

We should keep a careful diary of our moments of envy: they are our covert guides to what we should try to do next.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Envy Quotes , Trying Quotes

We are all more intelligent than we are capable, and awareness of the insanity of love has never saved anyone from the disease.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Intelligent Quotes , Insanity Quotes

The degree of sympathy we feel regarding another's fiasco is directly proportional to how easy or difficult it is for us to imagine ourselves, under like circumstances, making a similar mistake.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Mistake Quotes , Degrees Quotes

It would scarcely be acceptable, for example, to ask in the course of an ordinary conversation what our society holds to be the purpose of work.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Ordinary Quotes , Example Quotes

The greatest difficulty of Travel is that one is forced to take oneself along.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Difficulty Quotes

A simple problem of arithmetic: there are far more ambitions than there are grand destinies available.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Ambition Quotes , Simple Quotes

Artistic accounts involve severe abbreviations of what reality will force upon us.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , Reality Quotes , Abbreviations Quotes

People who readily accept the need for a gym will resist that their personalities might need some work too.

5 years ago

Message Copied

Tags : Alain de Botton Quotes , People Quotes , Personality Quotes