Share & Save
Meaning
This points to booksellers as more than retailers, as places where people can find company, attention, and a way into other minds. The line can be read as a witty defense of bookselling, and it lands especially for someone who has wandered into a shop feeling a little alone and found comfort in the shelves.
When It Was Said
Not documented yet.
Who It Was Said To
Not documented yet.
Historical Context
Not documented yet.
Source
Not documented yet.
Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
Not documented yet.
Did You Know?
Not documented yet.
About Alain de Botton
British author and public speaker
Alain de Botton is a British author and public speaker known for writing about contemporary life and for making philosophy feel useful in everyday settings. His work often turns to common experiences and asks how ideas can help explain them. Among his best-known books are Essays in Love, which sold two million copies, How Proust Can Change Your Life, Status Anxiety, and The Architecture of Happiness.
More from Alain de Botton (314 quotes) →Other sayings from Alain de Botton
- “He was marked out by his relentless ability to find fault with others' mediocrity--suggesting that a certain…”Alain de Botton
- “A good half of the art of living is resilience.”Alain de Botton
- “We don't need to be constantly reasonable in order to have good relationships; all we need to have mastered i…”Alain de Botton
- “Religions have always been clearly on to this psycho-therapeutic score. For hundreds of years in the West, Ch…”Alain de Botton
Explore Loneliness
- “In time of poverty, you alone face is your fate. If your spirit is stronger enough, you will survive.”Lailah Gifty Akita
- “I spent a huge amount of time by myself. I daydreamed and learned how to be alone and not be lonely.”Rachel Kushner
- “It's very lonely being a prominent black intellectual at an institution where you're the only prominent black…”Henry Louis Gates
Books: more sayings
- “It's not as if I've been unlucky. My books have been published and reviewed. I haven't lived through terrible…”Siri Hustvedt
- “In theory it was, around now, Literature. Susan hated Literature. She'd much prefer to read a good book.”Terry Pratchett
- “I'll maybe write a book - I wish people read more. But I don't know about developing and starring in a show m…”Janelle James
READ THE SOURCE
Books by Alain de Botton
The Architecture of Happiness
2008
The news
2014
The course of love
2016
Religion for Atheists
2012
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
2009