The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “Alain de Botton”

Alain de Botton on the Qualities of a Healthy Mind
Alain de Botton on the Qualities of a Healthy Mind

“A healthy mind knows how to hope; it identifies and then hangs on tenaciously to a few reasons to keep going.”

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Aloneness, Belonging, and the Paradox of Vulnerability, in Love and Creative Work
Aloneness, Belonging, and the Paradox of Vulnerability, in Love and Creative Work

Wisdom on the elementary particles of our shared humanity from Alain de Botton, Brené Brown, Elizabeth Alexander, and other visionaries across the spectrum of the creative life.

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Can People Change? The Psychological Möbius Strip That Keeps Us from Ending Painful Relationships
Can People Change? The Psychological Möbius Strip That Keeps Us from Ending Painful Relationships

Facing the logical fallacies that fuel painful emotional patterns and what it takes to break them with dignity, mindfulness, and emotional maturity.

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Alain de Botton on Emotional Generosity and the Difficult, Largehearted Art of Charity of Interpretation
Alain de Botton on Emotional Generosity and the Difficult, Largehearted Art of Charity of Interpretation

How to master a singular flavor of kindness we rarely afford others but always demand for ourselves.

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Alain de Botton on Existential Maturity and What Emotional Intelligence Really Means
Alain de Botton on Existential Maturity and What Emotional Intelligence Really Means

“The emotionally intelligent person knows that they will only ever be mentally healthy in a few areas and at certain moments, but is committed to fathoming their inadequacies and warning others of them in good time, with apology and charm.”

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The Challenge of Closeness: Alain de Botton on Love, Vulnerability, and the Paradox of Avoidance
The Challenge of Closeness: Alain de Botton on Love, Vulnerability, and the Paradox of Avoidance

The psychological machinery of our commonest coping mechanism for the terror of hurt, rejection, and abandonment.

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Alain de Botton on the Importance of Breakdowns and Crisis as a Clarifying Force for Authenticity
Alain de Botton on the Importance of Breakdowns and Crisis as a Clarifying Force for Authenticity

“Crisis… is an attempt to dislodge us from a toxic status quo and constitutes an insistent call to rebuild our lives on a more authentic and sincere basis.”

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Alain de Botton on How to Get Over Rejection and Heartbreak
Alain de Botton on How to Get Over Rejection and Heartbreak

A resaning antidote to one of the most dangerous and damaging romantic myths in our culture.

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Favorite Books of 2019
Favorite Books of 2019

From the hidden universe beneath our feet to delight as a countercultural force of courage and resistance, by way of Patti Smith, Toni Morrison, and the Greek myths.

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Alain de Botton’s Lovely Letter to Children About Why We Read
Alain de Botton’s Lovely Letter to Children About Why We Read

“We wouldn’t need books quite so much if everyone around us understood us well.”

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