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
Being content is perhaps no less easy than playing the violin well: and requires no less practice.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Finding contentment in life requires effort and practice, similar to mastering a skill.
Alain De Botton suggests that achieving a state of contentment is a skill that demands the same level of dedication and practice as learning to play the violin. Just as one must constantly refine their musical abilities, so too must individuals invest time and effort into cultivating a content and fulfilling life, emphasizing that happiness is not a passive state but an active pursuit.
Themes
ContentmentHappinessPracticeSkillEffort
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about mental health.
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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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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
Similar quotes
Happiness does not consist in amusement. In fact, it would be strange if our end were amusement, and if we were to labor and suffer hardships all our life long merely to amuse ourselves.... The happy life is regarded as a life in conformity with virtue. It is a life which involves effort and is not spent in amusement.
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Happiness is often presented as being very dull but, he thought, lying awake, that is because dull people are sometimes very happy and intelligent people can and do go around making themselves and everyone else miserable. He had never found happiness dull. It always seemed more exciting than any other thing and capable of as great intensity as sorrow to those people who were capable of having it.
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True happiness comes not when we get rid of all of our problems,but when we change our relationship to them, when we see our problems as a potential source of awakening, opportunities to practice, and to learn.
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Were it not for imagination a man would be as happy in the arms of a chambermaid as of a duchess.
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All our sweetest hours fly fastest.
VirgilRead
Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.
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