Status 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.

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

The longing for destiny is nowhere stronger than in our romantic life.

Good books put a finger on emotions that are deeply our own - but that we could never have described on our own.

Never too late to learn some embarrassingly basic, stupidly obvious things about oneself.

We study biology, physics, movements of glaciers... Where are the classes on envy, feeling wronged, despair, bitterness.

Don't despair: despair suggests you are in total control and know what is coming. You don't - surrender to events with hope.