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Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton Quotes

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Famous Alain de Botton Quotes

“In the immediate vicinity, there might well be stability and peace. In the garden, a breeze may be swaying the branches of the plum tree and dust may slowly be gathering on the bookshelves in the living room. But we are aware that such serenity does not do justice to the chaotic and violent fundamentals of existence and hence, after a time, it has a a habit of growing worrisome in its own way.”

PeaceWorryViolenceAnxietyNewsConcernChaosSerenity
Book:The News: A User's Manual
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“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.”

MayHappinessSuccessFallResultsWorryOur LivesFailingDangerAnxietyCapableIdealsDignityOur SocietyModestConformPerniciousDignity And Respect
Author:Alain de Botton
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“We are tempted to believe that certain achievements and possessions will give us enduring satisfaction. We are invited to imagine ourselves scaling the steep cliff face of happiness in order to reach a wide, high plateau on which we will live out the rest of our lives; we are not reminded that soon after gaining the summit, we will be called down again into fresh lowlands of anxiety and desire.”

GivingBelieveFacesDesireCertainOrderOur LivesImagineAchievementAnxietyEndureSatisfactionPossessionWideInvitedTemptedSummitCliffsSteep
Book:Status Anxiety
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“Life seems to be a process of replacing one anxiety with another and substituting one desire for another--which is not to say that we should never strive to overcome any of our anxieties or fulfil any of our desires, but rather to suggest that we should perhaps build into our strivings an awareness of the way our goals promise us a respite and a resolution that they cannot, by definition, deliver.”

WayShouldSeemsDesireProcessGoalAwarenessPromiseAnxietyOvercomingStriveDefinitionsResolutionRespite
Book:Status Anxiety
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“No one is able to produce a great work of art without experience, nor achieve a worldly position immediately, nor be a great lover at the first attempt; and in the interval between initial failure and subsequent success, in the gap between who we wish one day to be and who we are at present, must come pain, anxiety, envy and humiliation. We suffer because we cannot spontaneously master the ingredients of fulfillment.”

FirstsArtAblePainSufferingWishAchievePositionProduceMastersLoversOne DayAnxietyEnvyFulfillmentWho We AreWorks Of ArtGapsIngredientsWorldlyHumiliationGreat WorkInitialsGreat LoveIntervalsGreat Lovers
Author:Alain de Botton
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