Most of what makes a book 'good' is that we are reading it a... - Alain de Botton

"One rarely falls in love without being as much attracted to what is interestingly wrong with someone as what is objectively healthy."

"I passionately believe that's it's not just what you say that counts, it's also how you say it - that the success of your argument critically depends on your manner of presenting it."

"The price we have paid for expecting to be so much more than our ancestors is a perpetual anxiety that we are far from being all we might be."

"Feeling lost, crazy and desperate belongs to a good life as much as optimism, certainty and reason."

"Don't despair: despair suggests you are in total control and know what is coming. You don't - surrender to events with hope."