Writing a book has about it some of the anxiety of telling a joke and having to wait several years to know whether or not it was funny.
Alain de BottonCuriosity takes ignorance seriously - and is confident enough to admit when it's in the dark. It is aware of not knowing. And then it sets out to do something about it.
Alain de BottonAnyone who isn't embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn't learning enough.
Alain de BottonThe difference between hope and despair is a different way of telling stories from the same facts.
Alain de BottonThose who divorce aren't necessarily the most unhappy, just those neatly able to believe their misery is caused by one other person.
Alain de BottonIf optimism is important, it's because many outcomes are determined by how much of it we bring to the task. It is an important ingredient of success. This flies in the face of the elite view that talent is the primary requirement of a good life, but in many cases the difference between success and failure is determined by nothing more than our sense of what is possible and the energy we can muster to convince others of our due. We might be doomed not by a lack of skill, but by an absence of hope!
Alain de Botton