English - Writer | December 20, 1969 -
Pick up any newspaper or magazine, open the TV, and you'll be bombarded with suggestions of how to have a successful life. Some of these suggestions are deeply unhelpful to our own projects and priorities - and we should take care.
Alain de Botton
LifeCareTake CarePrioritiesYou
The Arab-Israeli conflict is also in many ways a conflict about status: it's a war between two peoples who feel deeply humiliated by the other, who want the other to respect them. Battles over status can be even more intractable than those over land or water or oil.
RespectWaterWarConflictFeelOil
What is fascinating about marriage is why anyone wants to get married.
MarriageWhyGetMarriedGet Married
We may seek a fortune for no greater reason than to secure the respect and attention of people who would otherwise look straight through us.
RespectPeopleAttentionLookReason
Booksellers are the most valuable destination for the lonely, given the numbers of books that were written because authors couldn't find anyone to talk to.
DestinationLonelyFindNumbersTalk
I assemble my ideas in pieces on a computer file, then gradually find a place for them on a piece of scaffolding I erect.
IdeasFindPlacePiecesComputer
I am always anxious.
I AmAlwaysAnxiousAm
All tours are filled with humiliation. My publisher once hired a private jet to fly me to a venue where 1,000 people were waiting. It almost bankrupted him.
WaitingPeopleMeFlyHimWhere
Never, ever become a writer. It's a nightmare.
BecomeNeverWriterNightmareEver
I think people want to get married to end their emotional uncertainty. In a way, they want to end powerful feelings, or certainly the negative ones.
PeopleNegativeUncertaintyThink
I am not a foodie, thank goodness. I will eat pretty much anything. A lot of my friends are getting incredibly fussy about food and I see it as a bit of an affliction.
FoodI AmFriendsGoodnessWillSee
I went to church and couldn't swallow it. The music was nice but I don't belong there.
MusicChurchNiceBelongSwallow
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