The School of Life
by Alain De Botton · first published 2019
6mentions
3recommended by
6HN commenters
2019–2025first – last mentioned
50% recommend50% neutral
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• The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray • Consciousness by Annaka Harris • More From Less by Andrew McAffee • The School of Life: An Emotional Education • Perfect Sound Whatever by James Acaster • Humble Pi by Matt Parker • The Last Pirate of New York by Rich Cohen
on “Ask HN: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2019?” ↗…comments. And I'd say there is no downside to spending a particular portion of your daily mental exertions wrestling with The Big Questions You won't find a better place to begin that the Alain de Botton School of Life series (though perhaps could use a more balanced Western to Eastern ratio). Start with Kant, see if it tempts your interest, and you should be able to consume the whole lot in a short sitting: https://www.youtube.com/c/theschooloflifetv/playlists…
on “Ask HN: Learning about philosophy” ↗This reminds me of one of my very favorite essays of all time, "Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person" by Alain de Botton from the School of Life. The title is somewhat misleading, and I resisted reading it for a couple years as a result. It is exquisite writing — it couldn't be said with fewer words, and adding more wouldn't help either — and…
on “You Wouldn't Download a Hacker News” ↗The School of Life is really interesting, and I've read some of Alain De Botton's previous work. I still have to wrap my mind about whether I should really dive deep into his stuff, or not. Any of you knows his work extensively,…
on “Alain de Botton on existential maturity and what emotional intelligence means” ↗Alain de Botton also published this in video form, seven years ago [0]. If you want the cliff's notes, his School of Life channel has a shorter version [1]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EvvPZFdjyk 22 minutes [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuKV2DI9-Jg 4 minutess
on “You Wouldn't Download a Hacker News” ↗The Burnout Society - Byung-Chul Han The Disappearance of Rituals - Byung-Chul Han Outlive - Peter Attia (This felt like a complete waste of attention) An Emotional Education - School of Life/Alain de Botton The Story of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - Hayao Miyazaki Plants from Test Tubes - Lydiane Kyte; John Kleyn; Holly Scoggins; Mark Bridgen Some…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗