I am a huge fan of Alain de Botton.

“There are things that are not spoken about in polite society. Very quickly in most conversations you’ll reach a moment where someone goes, ‘Oh, that’s a bit heavy,’ or ‘Eew, disgusting.’ And literature is a place where that stuff goes; where people whisper to each other across books, the writer to the reader. I think that stops you feeling lonely – in the deeper sense, lonely.”

Alain de Botton.

I really hate philosophy and so had never read any of Alain’s books until a few years ago. But then I picked up a copy of one of his books at a holiday rental, and I’ve been a massive fan ever since. I appreciate Alain’s ability to do the hard reading, and to then reinterpret these long, serious, dull tomes into enjoyable books and talks.

I am also a huge fan of audiobooks. Recently I have been listening to a series of Youtube videos from the School Of Life , including some from Alain.

I particularly liked this one on pessimism: