Alain de Botton Quotes

When I first met him, he did not care if a friend did not fit into his world, because at that time his world had not been born yet.

To be without sympathy is to be alone in the world--without friends or country, home or kindred.

I always wonder when it was that I was embraced.

When I was a kid... I needed to belong.

I love nicknames. It makes me feel loved. It makes me feel less alone in this world.

Wherever we are, it is our friends that make our world.

Part of adulthood is searching for the people who understand you.

When I meet a new person, I am on the lookout for signs of what he or she is loyal to. It is a preliminary clue to the sense of belonging, and hence of his or her humanity.

One's friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.

I like my friends because they make me feel normal, even though I'm not.

I have a big thing about needing to know that I belong - in my group of friends, in my family, in my industry.

My sister basically showed me how to be a person for many years of my life. I just didn't really fit anywhere, and my sister was always really comfortable in who she was.

The process of coming out, as much as other people want to couch it in terms of politics, it's a very personal journey.

I think the reason why people loved 'Jem' in the '80s was because it kind of gave them this story of a place to fit in. It's about finding your place.

When people ask me for advice about when to come out, it's really about, before you do that, building a circle of support that can strengthen you through that experience. For me, it was my friends. There were people on 'My So-Called Life' that really helped guide me.

It's important to come out to yourself first and be comfortable with it. After that, I feel it's important to surround yourself with a group of friends who support you and love you for who you are.

We're social beings, and I need to know and remember where I came from.

The world of dance is where I felt accepted as a human being.

Acting became my best friend. When I auditioned to get into college, the teacher said you belong here, Mr. Klugman, and to hear that word belong - I never belonged anywhere before - and suddenly I belonged in acting and it was so comfortable and I loved it.

Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.

The pieces I am, she gather them and gave them back to me in all the right order.

We are not loved by our friends for what we are; rather, we are loved in spite of what we are.

Sometimes identity can be your salvation. It can be liberating to find your place in the world, but at some point, identity can hold you back.

If we have no friends, we have no pleasure; and if we have them, we are sure to lose them, and be doubly pained by the loss.

Being myself didn't work. Being someone else didn't work. Maybe I just wasn't meant to have friends.