Quote

We are sensitized by the books we read. And the more books we read, and the deeper their lessons sink into us, the more pairs of glasses we have. And those glasses enable us to see things we would have otherwise missed.

Alain de Botton

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Alain de Botton
Age: 54
Born: 1969
Born: December 20
Journalist
Philosopher
Publisher
Writer
City of Zurich
Alain De Botton
Lessons
Sensitized
Books
Enable
Read
Sink
Book
Missed
Things
Pairs
Would
Glasses
Otherwise
Deeper

More quotes by Alain de Botton

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The inability to live in the present lies in the fear of leaving the sheltered position of anticipation or memory, and so of admitting that this is the only life that one is ever likely (heavenly intervention aside) to live.
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Happiness may be difficult to obtain. The obstacles are not primarily financial.
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Taking photographs can assuage the itch for possession sparked by the beauty of a place our anxiety over losing a precious scene can decline with every click of the shutter.
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Being funny should be an incidental byproduct of trying to get to something truthful, not a destination in itself.
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One of the unexpectedly important things that art can do for us is to teach us how to suffer more successfully.
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Wealth is not an absolute. It is relative to desire. Every time we yearn for something we cannot afford, we grow poorer, whatever our resources. And every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess.
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We should keep a careful diary of our moments of envy: they are our covert guides to what we should try to do next.
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Our capacity to draw happiness from aesthetic objects or material goods in fact seems critically dependent on our first satisfying a more important range of emotional or psychological needs, among them the need for understanding, for love, expression and respect.
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It would be foolish to describe the logistics hub as merely ugly, for it has the horrifying, soulless, immaculate beauty characteristic of many of the workplaces of the modern world.
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You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils, sunsets and uneventful nice days.
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The lesson? To respond to the unexpected and hurtful behavior of others with something more than a wipe of the glasses, to see it as a chance to expand our understanding.
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The challenge for a human now is to be more interesting to another than his or her smartphone.
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Kant and Hegel are interesting thinkers. But I am happy to insist that they are also terrible writers.
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Being incomprehensible offers unparalleled protection against having nothing to say...but writing with simplicity requires courage, for there is a danger that one will be overlooked, dismissed as simpleminded by those with a tenacious belief that the impassable prose is a hallmark of intelligence.
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A great writer picks up on those things that matter. It’s almost like their radar is attuned to the most significant moments.
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The challenge of modern relationships: how to prove more interesting than the other's smartphone.
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Most anger stems from feelings of weakness, sadness and fear: hard to remember when one is at the receiving end of its defiant roar.
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Arguments are like eels: however logical, they may slip from the minds weak grasp unless fixed there by imagery and style.
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One of love's greatest drawbacks is that, for a while at least, it is in danger of making us happy.
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Every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess.
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