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Alain De Botton Quotes


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Quotes by Alain De Botton

Showing 141-150 of 156 Quotes by Alain De Botton

The idea that one might use art for 'instrumental' reasons tends to set off alarm bells at the heart of the cultural elite, who contend that it's not a pill, that it shouldn't be asked to perform some specific function, especially something as egocentric as to 'cheer you up' or to 'make you a more empathetic person.'

~Alain De Botton

Topics: Alarm Art Asked Bells Cheer Contend Cultural Egocentric Elite Empathetic Function Heart Idea Instrumental Make Might More Off Perform Person Pill Reasons Set Some Something Specific Tends Up Use Who You

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If buying art is to matter to us deeply, then it has to engage with our emotions and bring something to what one might as well, and with no supernatural associations whatsoever, call our souls.

~Alain De Botton

Topics: Art Associations Bring Buying Call Deeply Emotions Engage Matter Might Our Something Souls Supernatural Then Us Well Whatsoever

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Artworks are especially good at helping our psyches in a variety of ways: they rebalance our moods, lend us hope, usher in calm, stretch our sympathies, reignite our senses, and reawaken appreciation.

~Alain De Botton

Topics: Appreciation Calm Good Helping Hope Lend Moods Our Senses Stretch Sympathies Us Usher Variety Ways

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Religions have always been clearly on to this psycho-therapeutic score. For hundreds of years in the West, Christian art had a very clear function: it was meant to direct us towards the good and wean us off vice.

~Alain De Botton

Topics: Always Art Been Christian Clear Clearly Direct Function Good Had Hundreds Hundreds Of Years Meant Off Religions Score Towards Us Very Vice West Years

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Secular thinkers have a separation between thinking and doing. They don't have a grasp of the balance sheet. The doers are selling us potted plants and pizzas while the thinkers are a little bit unworldly. Religions both think and do.

~Alain De Botton

Topics: Balance Between Bit Both Doers Doing Grasp Little Little Bit Plants Religions Secular Selling Separation Sheet Think Thinkers Thinking Us While

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Politicians want people to be nice neighbours, but the tools at their disposal are just the tools of modern liberal society, which are nothing.

~Alain De Botton

Topics: Be Nice Disposal Just Liberal Modern Neighbours Nice Nothing People Politicians Society Tools Want Which

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Where is instruction in relationships, in the management of career, in the raising of children, in the pursuit of friendship, in the wise approach to anxiety and death? All this sort of stuff I craved to learn about when I was a student and down to this day.

~Alain De Botton

Topics: About Anxiety Approach Career Children Day Death Down Friendship Instruction Learn Management Pursuit Raising Relationships Sort Student Stuff Where Wise

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The essential argument in the book, 'Art as Therapy,' is that art enjoys such financial and cultural prestige that it's easy to forget the confusion that persists about what it's really for.

~Alain De Botton

Topics: About Argument Art Book Confusion Cultural Easy Essential Financial Forget Persists Prestige Really Therapy

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We have to put aside the customary historical reading of works of art in order to invite art to respond to certain quite specific pains and dilemmas of our psyches.

~Alain De Botton

Topics: Art Aside Certain Dilemmas Historical Invite Order Our Pains Put Quite Reading Respond Specific Works

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Becoming a writer wasn't a choice (there would have been far more worthwhile things to do); it was the best, most fruitful way of being a bit ill.

~Alain De Botton

Topics: Becoming Been Being Best Bit Choice Far Fruitful Ill More Most Things Way Worthwhile Would Writer

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Biography

Nationality: English

Type: Writer

Born: December 20th, 1969

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Find Alain De Botton on Amazon

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