Alain Botton Quotations

I am in general a very pessimistic person with an optimistic, day-to-day take on things. The bare facts of life are utterly terrifying. And yet, one can laugh. Indeed, one has to laugh precisely because of the darkness: the nervous laughter of the trenches.

I find a welcome interest in the problems of everyday life. I find a humanity and a devotion to using thought to alleviate suffering.

Literature has always had its circus side, its freaks and its frivolities - and maybe that's all part of it, and no bad thing if it draws people towards what is most worthwhile.

I used to walk past this block of flats and wonder: 'Who could have built that? What were they thinking? What were they trying to do?

Snobbery exists in all areas of life, not least literary criticism. By snobbery I mean, any method of judging someone or something whereby you latch on to one or two features about them/it, and use these to come to a definitive, immovable judgement. In intellectual matters, the snob will often take the external features of a work as a guide to its value.