You need a long hard day's work to reveal the logic of the craving for very bad tv and alcohol.
Alain de BottonIt's very hard to respect people on holiday - everybody looks so silly at the beach, it makes you hate humanity - but when you see people at their work they elicit respect, whether it's a mechanic, a stonemason or an accountant.
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 BottonBeing content is perhaps no less easy than playing the violin well: and requires no less practice.
Alain de BottonThe only possible way to begin a book is to tell oneself that its eventual failure is guaranteed — but survivable.
Alain de BottonStatus Anxiety: A worry, so pernicious as to be capable of ruining extended stretches of our lives, that we are in danger of failing to conform to the ideals of success laid down by our society and that we may as a result be stripped of dignity and respect; a worry that we are currently occupying too modest a rung or are about to fall to a lower one.
Alain de Botton