What I understood from the book was, that it really is important to stop and marvel at everyday life, which can be very profound.
Ultimately, the goal is to see the world through artists eyes and particular object of the art is not very important. It is the perception, the noticing of the details in particular way that constitutes work of art
And maybe particular life.
Proust was very sick, and didn’t leave his home much and was considered a failure by his family.
Later, when his work was acclaimed and people were trying to summarize his work.
Even contests were held to summarize it in 1 minute.
Whlch was quite ridiculous because that was precisely beside the point of the main message in the book.
The school of life
Alain de Botton considers himself a ‚Äěpractical philosopher‚ÄĚ.
He is on a mission to make philosophy answer practical questions again, instead of debating the meanings of words.
The school of life is a great project and I urge you to check out their merchandise like this, this and this
Another amazing project worth checking out is The Book of Life where they try to summarize answers to big life questions
My highlights
- Less greedily, more importantly, going by slowly may entail greater sympathy
- A woman whom we need and who makes us suffer elicits from us a whole gamut of feelings far more profound and more vital than does a man of genius who interests us
- Only when plunged into grief do we have the Proustian incentive to confront difficult truths, as we wail under the bedclothes, like branches in the autumn wind
- The incident emphasizes once more that beauty is something to be found, rather than passively encountered,
- Even the finest books deserve to be thrown