It is difficult when reading the description of certain fictional characters not at the same time to imagine the real-life acquaintances who they most closely, if often unexpectedly, resemble.
Alain de BottonMots clés literature life-lessons philosophy-of-life
One cannot read a novel without ascribing to the heroine the traits of the one we love.
Alain de BottonMots clés literature life-lessons
The feeling one has no time to get anything done provides the pressure that guarantees one does get some things done.
Alain de BottonMots clés time pressure accomplishments
We continue to need exhortations to be sympathetic and just, even if we do not believe that there is a God who has a hand in wishing to make us so. We no longer have to be brought into line by the threat of hell or the promise of paradise; we merely have to be reminded that it is we ourselves -- that is, the most mature and reasonable parts of us (seldom present in the midst of our crises and obsessions) -- who want to lead the sort of life which we once imagined supernatural beings demanded of us. An adequate evolution of morality from superstition to reason should mean recognizing ourselves as the authors of our own moral commandments.
Alain de BottonMots clés life reason morality morals god atheism superstition commandments
Just be yourself' is about the worst advice you can give some people.
Alain de BottonMots clés life advice being-yourself
Books should be full of stuff you could never say to people in public.
Alain de BottonMots clés books
What kills us isn't one big thing, but thousands of tiny obligations we can't turn down for fear of disappointing others.
Alain de BottonMots clés disappointment obligations
Our innate imbalances are further aggravated by practical demands. Our jobs make relentless calls on a narrow band of our faculties, reducing our chances of achieving rounded personalities and leaving us to suspect (often in the gathering darkness of a Sunday evening) that much of who we are, or could be, has gone unexplored. Society ends up containing a range of unbalanced groups, each hungering to sate its particular psychological deficiency, forming the backdrop against which our frequently heated conflicts about what is beautiful plays themselves out.
Alain de BottonDon't despair: despair suggests you are in total control and know what is coming. You don't - surrender to events with hope.
Alain de BottonMots clés despair hope foresight control surrender
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 to throttle our children, poison our spouse, or end our marriage over a dispute about changing a lightbulb.
Alain de BottonMots clés civilization necessity authenticity desires chaos repression order
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