Quote

We are sad at home and blame the weather and the ugliness of the buildings, but on the tropical island we learn that the state of the skies and the appearance of our dwellings can never on their own underwrite our joy nor condemn us to misery.

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
Blame
Ugliness
Building
Buildings
Joy
Island
State
Islands
Dwellings
Learn
Weather
Tropical
Home
Appearance
Skies
States
Misery
Condemn
Never
Sky
Dwelling

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A dominant impulse on encountering beauty is to wish to hold on to it, to possess it and give it weight in one’s life. There is an urge to say, ‘I was here, I saw this and it mattered to me.
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Happiness may be difficult to obtain. The obstacles are not primarily financial.
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Architects themselves tend to shy away from the word, preferring instead to talk about the manipulation of space.
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Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.
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The telephone becomes an instrument of torture in the demonic hands of a beloved who doesn't call.
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We are certainly influenced by role models, and if we are surrounded by images of beautiful rich people, we will start to think that to be beautiful and rich is very important - just as in the Middle Ages, people were surrounded by images of religious piety.
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Perhaps it is true that we do not really exist until there is someone there to see us existing, we cannot properly speak until there is someone who can understand what we are saying in essence, we are not wholly alive until we are loved.
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Everyone returns us to a different sense of ourselves, for we become a little of who they think we are.
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We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.
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To look at the paper is to raise a seashell to one's ear and to be overwhelmed by the roar of humanity.
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If our lives are dominated by a search for happiness, then perhaps few activities reveal as much about the dynamics of this quest - in all its ardour and paradoxes - than our travels.
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Much of the really serious trouble in the world gets going with a sense of humiliation.
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We envy only those whom we feel ourselves to be like we envy only members of our reference group. There are few successes more unendurable than those of our close friends.
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The materialistic view of happiness of our age starkly revealed in our understanding of the word luxury.
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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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We used to build temples, and museums are about as close as secular society dares to go in facing up to the idea that a good building can change your life (and a bad one ruin it).
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We should not be frightened by appearances.
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Status anxiety definitely exists at a political level. Many Iraqis were annoyed with the US essentially for reasons of status: for not showing them respect, for humiliating them.
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We need objects to remind us of the commitments we've made. That carpet from Morocco reminds us of the impulsive, freedom-loving side of ourselves we're in danger of losing touch with. Beautiful furniture gives us something to live up to. All designed objects are propaganda for a way of life.
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The greatest works of art speak to us without knowing us.
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