The problem isn't so much finding good ideas (there is no shortage) as embedding the ones we have into everyday practice. Alain de Botton More Quotes by Alain de Botton More Quotes From Alain de Botton I tell my children what I think myself: That religion is not necessarily convincing, but it is still interesting and not to be laughed at or denigrated. Alain de Botton myself think children religion I'm fascinated by Comte's clear-eyed analysis of what was wrong with modern society, which is that you've got industrial capitalism on one side and romantic love on the other. Those, along with non-instrumental art, are supposed to get you through the day? Alain de Botton day love romantic art I'm one of those introverted people who simply feels a lot better after spending time alone thinking through ideas and emotions. This is a sign, I've come to think, of a kind of emotional disturbance - a reaction to inner fragility. I wish I were more able to just act and do, rather than constantly have to retreat and examine and think. Alain de Botton alone time people thinking Compatibility is an achievement of love; it shouldn't be its precondition. Alain de Botton compatibility achievement love A city like London is sociable in a sense that there are people gathering in bars and restaurants, concerts and lectures. Yet you can partake of all these experiences and never say hello to anyone new. And one of the things that all religions do is take groups of strangers into a space and say it is OK to talk to each other. Alain de Botton city you space people Sometimes I say to people, 'Do you think you're easy to live with?' People who are single. And the ones who say, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty easy to live with; it's just a question of finding the right person,' massive alarm bell rings in my mind. Alain de Botton you mind sometimes people Parents become very good at not hearing the explicit words and listening instead to what the child means but doesn't yet know how to say: 'I'm lonely, in pain, frightened' - distress which then unfairly comes out as an attack on the safest, kindest, most reliable thing in the child's world: the parent. Alain de Botton parents good pain world Used to do a lot of falling in love with people, almost in the street, and imagining that there would be no obstacle to a happy love story other than finding the 'right person'. Alain de Botton right-person happy love people Therapy and counseling can do wonderful things for people. But they have emerged so far as what are sometimes called 'cottage industries' - that is, as individuals or small groups offering generally quite expensive services to a few clients. Alain de Botton small clients sometimes people The claims I'm making for art are simply the claims that we naturally make around music or around poetry. We're much more relaxed around those art forms. We're willing to ask, 'How could this find a place in my heart?' Alain de Botton music poetry heart art I do think that travel can be part of a journey of inner maturation, but you've got to do it right. Alain de Botton think you journey travel We don't sulk with everybody. We limit our sulks to a very particular person: the person who's supposed to love us and understand us. And we make this equation that if you love me, you're supposed to understand me even if I don't explain what's wrong. Alain de Botton love-me me you love A gray V-neck pullover from Gap. I have 30 of them. Alain de Botton gap them gray My theory is that many of the things that move us are things we long for but find hard to do. Alain de Botton find things hard long
