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The School of Life: An Emotional Education
How to live wisely and well in the twenty-first century—an introduction to the modern art of emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence affects every aspect of the way we live, from romantic to professional relationships, from our inner resilience to our social success. It is arguably the single most important skill for surviving the twenty-first century. But what does it really mean?
One decade ago, Alain de Botton founded The School of Life, an institute dedicated to understanding and improving our emotional intelligence. Now he presents the gathered wisdom of those ten years in a wide-ranging and innovative compendium of emotional intelligence that forms an introduction to The School of Life. Using his trademark mixture of analysis and anecdote, philosophical insight and practical wisdom, he considers how we interact with each other and with ourselves, and how we can do so better. From the beloved expert of popular philosophy, The School of An Emotional Education is an essential look at the skill set that defines our modern lives.
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S WORK developing emotional intelligence around the world.
AN UPDATED ANTHOLOGY of The School of Life's best loved works.
FOREWORD BY ALAIN DE BOTTON, the celebrated author, philosopher, and School of Life founder.
DRAWS ON PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, LITERATURE, AND VISUAL ART to equip listeners with the skills we truly need to thrive.
CHAPTERS INCLUDE SELF, OTHERS, RELATIONSHIPS, WORK, AND CULTURE
Emotional intelligence affects every aspect of the way we live, from romantic to professional relationships, from our inner resilience to our social success. It is arguably the single most important skill for surviving the twenty-first century. But what does it really mean?
One decade ago, Alain de Botton founded The School of Life, an institute dedicated to understanding and improving our emotional intelligence. Now he presents the gathered wisdom of those ten years in a wide-ranging and innovative compendium of emotional intelligence that forms an introduction to The School of Life. Using his trademark mixture of analysis and anecdote, philosophical insight and practical wisdom, he considers how we interact with each other and with ourselves, and how we can do so better. From the beloved expert of popular philosophy, The School of An Emotional Education is an essential look at the skill set that defines our modern lives.
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S WORK developing emotional intelligence around the world.
AN UPDATED ANTHOLOGY of The School of Life's best loved works.
FOREWORD BY ALAIN DE BOTTON, the celebrated author, philosopher, and School of Life founder.
DRAWS ON PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, LITERATURE, AND VISUAL ART to equip listeners with the skills we truly need to thrive.
CHAPTERS INCLUDE SELF, OTHERS, RELATIONSHIPS, WORK, AND CULTURE
Audible Audio
Published October 18, 2022
21 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
The School of Life
173 books3,140 followersThe School of Life is a global organisation helping people lead more fulfilled lives.
We believe that the journey to finding fulfilment begins with self-knowledge. It is only when we have a sense of who we really are that we can make reliable decisions, particularly around love and work.
Sadly, tools and techniques for developing self-knowledge and finding fulfilment are hard to find – they’re not taught in schools, in universities, or in workplaces. Too many of us go through life without ever really understanding what’s going on in the recesses of our minds.
That’s why we created The School of Life; a resource for helping us understand ourselves, for improving our relationships, our careers and our social lives - as well as for helping us find calm and get more out of our leisure hours. We do this through films, workshops, books and gifts - as well as through a warm and supportive community.
We believe that the journey to finding fulfilment begins with self-knowledge. It is only when we have a sense of who we really are that we can make reliable decisions, particularly around love and work.
Sadly, tools and techniques for developing self-knowledge and finding fulfilment are hard to find – they’re not taught in schools, in universities, or in workplaces. Too many of us go through life without ever really understanding what’s going on in the recesses of our minds.
That’s why we created The School of Life; a resource for helping us understand ourselves, for improving our relationships, our careers and our social lives - as well as for helping us find calm and get more out of our leisure hours. We do this through films, workshops, books and gifts - as well as through a warm and supportive community.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 1, 2025
This book is food for thought. Beautifully written. Incredibly reassuring.
A few lines I highlighted: (it was hard to choose!)
‘A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.
— Kafka
the same could be said of art in any form.’
‘Kindness is built out of a constantly revered and gently redesigned awareness that weakness free people do not exist.’
‘Anxiety deserves greater dignity. It is not a sign of degeneracy, rather a kind of masterpiece insight: a justifiable expression of our mysterious participation in a disordered, uncertain world.’
‘Contented people have no need to hurt others. We can move from helpless victims to imaginative witnesses of justice.’
‘The crux is whether we can move from interpreting behavior as a sign of meanness to viewing it as a symptom of pain and anxiety.’
‘We are ready for relationships not when we have encountered perfection but when we have grown willing to give flaws the charitable interpretations they deserve.’
‘When we spot apparent perfection, we tend to blame our spectacular bad luck for the mediocrity of our lives, without realizing that we are mistaking an asymmetry of knowledge for an asymmetry of quality.’
‘The work of Erasmus and Bruegel propose that the way to greater confidence isn’t to reassure ourselves of our own dignity; it is to live at peace with the inevitable nature of our own ridiculousness.’
‘There are two ways to get richer: One is to make more money and the second is to discover that more of the things we could love are already to hand (thanks to the miracles of the Industrial Revolution). We are, astonishingly already a good deal richer than we’re encouraged to think we are.’
‘It takes a great deal of bravery and skill to keep even a very ordinary life going. We should perhaps more often sometimes step back in order to acknowledge in a non-starry-eyed but very real way that our lives are good enough—and this is, in itself, already a very impressive achievement.’
‘Love is a skill, not an emotion.’
A few lines I highlighted: (it was hard to choose!)
‘A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.
— Kafka
the same could be said of art in any form.’
‘Kindness is built out of a constantly revered and gently redesigned awareness that weakness free people do not exist.’
‘Anxiety deserves greater dignity. It is not a sign of degeneracy, rather a kind of masterpiece insight: a justifiable expression of our mysterious participation in a disordered, uncertain world.’
‘Contented people have no need to hurt others. We can move from helpless victims to imaginative witnesses of justice.’
‘The crux is whether we can move from interpreting behavior as a sign of meanness to viewing it as a symptom of pain and anxiety.’
‘We are ready for relationships not when we have encountered perfection but when we have grown willing to give flaws the charitable interpretations they deserve.’
‘When we spot apparent perfection, we tend to blame our spectacular bad luck for the mediocrity of our lives, without realizing that we are mistaking an asymmetry of knowledge for an asymmetry of quality.’
‘The work of Erasmus and Bruegel propose that the way to greater confidence isn’t to reassure ourselves of our own dignity; it is to live at peace with the inevitable nature of our own ridiculousness.’
‘There are two ways to get richer: One is to make more money and the second is to discover that more of the things we could love are already to hand (thanks to the miracles of the Industrial Revolution). We are, astonishingly already a good deal richer than we’re encouraged to think we are.’
‘It takes a great deal of bravery and skill to keep even a very ordinary life going. We should perhaps more often sometimes step back in order to acknowledge in a non-starry-eyed but very real way that our lives are good enough—and this is, in itself, already a very impressive achievement.’
‘Love is a skill, not an emotion.’
November 1, 2024
Every person should own a copy of this book, so insightful and filled with important information. I love it.
March 25, 2025
A deep thinking philosophical kind of book on emotions.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews