“at the heart of every frustration lies a basic structure: the collision of a wish with an unyielding reality.”

—  Alain de Botton , book The Consolations of Philosophy

Source: The Consolations of Philosophy (2000), Chapter III, Consolation For Frustration, p. 80.
Context: Though the terrain of frustration may be vast — from a stubbed toe to an untimely death — at the heart of every frustration lies a basic structure: the collision of a wish with an unyielding reality.

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Alain de Botton 146
Swiss writer 1969

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