Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.
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ABOUT Alain de Botton
“It started in 1997, when Alain de Botton turned away from writing novels and instead wrote a touching extended essay entitled ‘How Proust Can Change Your Life’, that became an unlikely blockbuster in the ‘self-help’category.
His subsequent books take on some of the fundamental worries of modern life (Am I happy? Where exactly do I stand?), informed by his deep reading in philosophy and by a novelist’s eye for small, perfect moments. His newest book is ‘The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work’.
In 2008, Alain helped start the ‘School of Life’ in London, a social enterprise determined to make learning and therapy relevant in today’s uptight culture. His goal is (through any of his mediums) to help clients learn “how to live wisely and well.”
The VIDEO
