Quotable Quotes--Alain de Botton Edition

We may seek a fortune for no greater reason than to secure the respect and attention of people who would otherwise look straight through us.

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I passionately believe that's it's not just what you say that counts, it's also how you say it - that the success of your argument critically depends on your manner of presenting it.

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I am in general a very pessimistic person with an optimistic, day-to-day take on things. The bare facts of life are utterly terrifying. And yet, one can laugh. Indeed, one has to laugh precisely because of the darkness: the nervous laughter of the trenches.

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We are certainly influenced by role models, and if we are surrounded by images of beautiful rich people, we will start to think that to be beautiful and rich is very important - just as in the Middle Ages, people were surrounded by images of religious piety.

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

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In Britain, because I live here, I can also run into problems of envy and competition. But all this is just in a day's work for a writer. You can't put stuff out there without someone calling you a complete fool. Oh, well.

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It's clear to me that there is no good reason for many philosophy books to sound as complicated as they do.

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Kant and Hegel are interesting thinkers. But I am happy to insist that they are also terrible writers.

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Pick up any newspaper or magazine, open the TV, and you'll be bombarded with suggestions of how to have a successful life. Some of these suggestions are deeply unhelpful to our own projects and priorities - and we should take care.

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What is fascinating about marriage is why anyone wants to get married.

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