1,008 Quotes by Alain de Botton

The solution as consumers is - perhaps surprisingly - to take adverts very, very seriously. We should ask ourselves what it is that we find lovely in them - the visions of friendship, togetherness, repose, or whatever. And then consider what would actually help us find these qualities in our lives.

The good life is not one immune to sadness but one in which suffering contributes to our development.

Modern society tends to emphasize buoyancy and cheerfulness but we have to admit that reality is, for the most part, about grief and loss.

There are in our spots of time / That with distinct pre-eminence retain / A renovating virtue.. / That penetrates, enables us to mount, when high, more high, and lifts us up when fallen.

Rage is caused by a conviction, almost comic in its optimistic origins, however tragic in its effects, that a given frustration has not been written into the contract of life.

To look at the paper is to raise a seashell to one's ear and to be overwhelmed by the roar of humanity.

Insomnia is a glamorous term for the thoughts you forgot to have in the day.

The true nature of bureaucracy may be nowhere more obvious to the observer than in a developing country, for only there will it still be made manifest by the full complement of documents, files, veneered desks and cabinets which convey the strict and inverse relationship between productivity and paperwork.

Mental health having enough safe places in your mind for your thoughts to settle.