Alain de Botton was born in Zurich, Switzerland and went to the Dragon School in Oxford, Harrow and Cambridge to study history, where he received a double first. He graduated from the University of London with an MA in philosophy and started a PhD program but stopped to focus on writing novels.
He started crafting his distinct brand of popular philosophy with "How Proust Can Change Your Life" after penning many novels. Ironically, his interpretation of Proust's well-known essay "Remembrance of Things Past" was published as a self-help book and quickly became a best-seller in both the UK and the USA.
Following this, he tackled the concepts of achievement, disappointment and what other people think of us in "The Consolations of Philosophy," "The Art of Travel," and "Status Anxiety," all of which built on his singular ability to demand meaningful answers from seemingly insignificant issues.
His publication of the "Architecture of Happiness" sparked the creation of the Living Architecture movement, which encourages architects to develop structures that the general public may rent, allowing regular people to directly witness the life-changing power of excellent design.
Between books, de Botton assisted with the establishment of The School of Life, a London bookstore and salon that aims to develop his philosophy that we should look for intellectual solutions to problems in daily life and use them to lead morally upright lives.
Alain de Botton is a brilliant and charming speaker who combines a thorough understanding of philosophy with the observational abilities of a fiction writer. Although he might be contentious at times, he finds all facets of life fascinating and thinks that living well and intelligently is something that can be learned..

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