It is in books, poems, paintings which often give us the confidence to take seriously feelings in ourselves that we might otherwise never have thought to acknowledge.
Alain De BottonRead
Bitterness: anger that forgot where it came from.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Bitterness stems from unresolved anger and can often lead us to forget its origins.
This quote by Alain De Botton reflects on the nature of bitterness, suggesting that it is a form of anger that has been left unexamined and has grown over time. When individuals become bitter, they can detach from the original source of their feelings, allowing resentment to take root and potentially distort their perspective on life and relationships.
Themes
BitternessAngerResentmentForgivenessEmotions
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on emotional intelligence, one could quote this to discuss how unresolved anger can lead to bitterness.
More from Alain De Botton
All quotes βTaking architecture seriously therefore makes some singular and strenuous demands upon us...It means conceding that we are inconveniently vulnerable to the colour of our wallpaper and that our sense of purpose may be derailed by an unfortunate bedspread
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The more closely we analyze what we consider 'sexy,' the more clearly we will understand that eroticism is the feeling of excitement we experience at finding another human being who shares our values and our sense of the meaning of existence.
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Good books put a finger on emotions that are deeply our own - but that we could never have described on our own.
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The challenge of modern relationships: how to prove more interesting than the other's smartphone.
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It is the most ambitious and driven among us who are the most sorely in need of having our reckless hopes dampened through immersive dousings in the darkness which religions have explored. This is a particular priority for secular Americans, perhaps the most anxious and disappointed people on earth, for their nation infuses them with the most extreme hopes about what they may be able to achieve in their working lives and relationships.
Alain De BottonRead
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