Alain de Botton: Trending quotes

“A virtuous, ordinary life, striving for wisdom but never far from folly, is achievement enough.”

“There may be no good reason for things to be the way they are.”

“Maturity: knowing where you're crazy, trying to warn others of the fact and striving to keep yourself under control.”

“Dreams reveal we never quite get 'over' anything: it's all still in there somewhere.”

“One's doing well if age improves even slightly one's capacity to hold on to that vital truism: "This too shall pass.”

“Don't despair: despair suggests you are in total control and know what is coming. You don't - surrender to events with hope.”

“Must being in love always mean being in pain?”

“Feeling lost, crazy and desperate belongs to a good life as much as optimism, certainty and reason.”

“The difference between hope and despair is a different way of telling stories from the same facts.”

“The largest part of what we call 'personality' is determined by how we've opted to defend ourselves against anxiety and sadness".”

“There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.”

“Love is an incurable disease. In love, there is permanent suffering. Those who love and those who are happy are not the same.”

“You have to be quite heavily invested in someone to do them the honour of telling them you're annoyed with them.”

“Anyone who isn't embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn't learning enough.”

“As adults, we try to develop the character traits that would have rescued our parents.”

“Do you love me enough that I may be weak with you? Everyone loves strength, but do you love me for my weakness? That is the real test.”

“The moment we cry in a film is not when things are sad but when they turn out to be more beautiful than we expected them to be.”

“Most of what makes a book 'good' is that we are reading it at the right moment for us.”

“To one's enemies: "I hate myself more than you ever could.”