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
Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.
Interpretation
Reputation influences people's opinions, often overshadowing independent thought.
This quote by Alain De Botton highlights the importance of reputation in society, suggesting that many people do not engage in critical thinking or form their own opinions. As a result, they rely heavily on the perceptions established by others, which can lead to a conformist mindset where personal judgment is undervalued.
In practice
During a discussion on social media ethics, this quote can remind participants to think critically rather than follow popular opinions.
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.
Taking 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
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.
Good books put a finger on emotions that are deeply our own - but that we could never have described on our own.
The challenge of modern relationships: how to prove more interesting than the other's smartphone.
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.
I'm not one of those guys that has a great worldview. I kind of deal with terror and fear and isolation and abandonment.
As for politics, Iβm an anarchist. I hate governments and rules and fetters. Canβt stand caged animals. People must be free.
Every old man complains of the growing depravity of the world, of the petulance and insolence of the rising generation. He recounts the decency and regularity of former times, and celebrates the discipline and sobriety of the age in which his youth was passed; a happy age which is now no more to be expected, since confusion has broken in upon the world, and thrown down all the boundaries of civility and reverence.
I've always thought if we don't want to enforce laws on the books, we should remove them from the books. But when you have laws, you breed contempt if you don't enforce them.
I never yet heard of a useless thing that was not ground out of existence by evolution sooner or later. Did you? And pain gets needless.
The true meaning of existence is disclosed in moments of living in the presence of God
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