We depend on our surroundings obliquely to embody the moods and ideas we respect and then to remind us of them. We look to our buildings to hold us, like a kind of psychological mould, to a helpful vision of ourselves. We arrange around us material forms which communicate to us what we need — but are at constant risk of forgetting what we need — within. We turn to wallpaper, benches, paintings and streets to staunch the disappearance of our true selves.
Alain de BottonMost of what makes a book 'good' is that we are reading it at the right moment for us.
Alain de BottonFor paranoia about 'what other people think' : remember that only some hate, a very few love - and almost all just don't care.
Alain de Botton