The School of Life

Calmness isn’t just a state of mind. It’s an essential life skill that, when practiced, can dramatically improve our everyday lives. This fascinating and pragmatic book argues that we can educate ourselves in the art of keeping calm not through slow breathing or special teas but through thinking. It patiently unpacks the root causes of our collective anxieties and gives us a succession of highly persuasive, beautiful, and sometimes dryly comic arguments with which to defend ourselves against panic and frustration. Part of a new essential paperback series from The School of Life, covering a range of emotional lessons needed in order to lead fulfilled and happy lives.

• THE ESSENTIAL MENTAL TOOLKIT provides readers with the skills needed to face life’s challenges with serenity. 
• EXPLORES THE ROOT CAUSES of our collective cultural anxieties. 
• A REFRESHING APPROACH to the art of finding calm in a chaotic world. 
• CLASSIC BLACK & WHITE IMAGES throughout. 
• PART OF THE NEW PAPERBACK SERIES 'LESSONS FOR LIFE'

A guide to identifying, nurturing and growing our insight and creativity for more effective thinking.

We know that our minds are capable of great things. But they are also unpredictable. Our thoughts tend to wander and our minds are either distracted or idle. This book teaches us how to optimize these beautiful yet fitful instruments so that they can more regularly and generously produce the sort of insights and ideas we need to fulfill our potential.

We learn how to hold on to fleeting thoughts before they disappear through anxiety and fear, what time of day is best for constructive work, and how to avoid predictable approaches to our largest problems. The result is a user's manual to that most wondrous, intermittent, and always baffling, organ: the human mind.

• WITH CHAPTERS ON CUMULATIVE, EMPATHETIC, AND SKEPTICAL THINKING
• A PRACTICAL AND INFORMATIVE GUIDE for individuals and businesses alike.
• INFORMED BY RESEARCH FROM THE SCHOOL OF LIFE FOR BUSINESS whose clients include Facebook, Google, Nike, and Sony Music.
• PART OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S ESSENTIAL SKILLS SERIES other titles include The Emotionally Intelligent Office and How to Get on With Your Colleagues.

The School of Life’s approach to calm - in a pocket format.

In the third of a series of pocket books, The School of Life has distilled its most essential ideas on serenity in order to produce a bitesize manual that is both useful and entertaining. 

Knowing how to fight off anxiety and remain calm belong to the greatest skills we can ever aspire to. Only with a serene state of mind are we in any position to enjoy all the other good things in life: friendship, love, family or work. Here is selection of The School of Life’s finest essays on the art of serenity. They teach us how to achieve the correct perspective on our problems, how to understand the worst of our fears and how to surround ourselves with the sort of people who can help us in our quest for a less anxious existence. 

We have – most of us – already spent far too long on needless worry; here at last is a crucial guide to the less turbulent future we deserve.

Alain de Botton's redemptive volume - now in paperback - charts a course from collapse to recovery with kindness, compassion and wisdom.

“Alain de Botton, one of our era’s most uncommonly perceptive, lyrical, and lucid existential contemplatives.” — The Marginalian

A Therapeutic Journey is a collection of essays about mental challenge and health. Written with kindness, knowledge and sympathy, it is a practical guide to well-being and a source of consolation and companionship in what might be some of our loneliest, most anguished moments.

Alain de Botton explores how we can cope with a variety of forms of mental pain and illness, from the mild to the severe. It considers how and why we might become ill; how we can explain things to friends, family and colleagues; how we can find our ways towards recovery; and how we can build resilience, so as to live wisely alongside our difficulties.

At heart this is a book about happiness - about regaining the thread of our lives, rediscovering meaning, and finding our way back to connection, warmth and joy.

• A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AT WORK
• EXPLORES TWENTY KEY SKILLS: such as giving feedback, responding to criticism, and communicating effectively.
• INFORMATIVE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES ALIKE
• INFORMED BY RESEARCH FROM THE SCHOOL OF LIFE BUSINESS: who deliver in-house training for clients including: Facebook, The Financial Times, Google, Havas Media, Nike, and Sony Music.

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 which 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 and with ourselves, and how we can do so better.

From the reigning master of popular philosophy, The School of Life: An Emotional Education is an essential look at the skill set that defines our modern lives.

A guided questionnaire to help understand ourselves and our romantic relationships more clearly.

Most questionnaires are happy to be a bit of fun; this one sets out to be both entertaining and, more importantly, useful – offering us nothing less than a guide to the comforting and supportive relationships we long for.

With online apps taking over the dating game, it has never been more crucial to know the rules.

Through a series of pertinent questions, it reveals our distinctive style of loving, what our strengths and weaknesses are with partners and how we might secure genuine fulfillment going forward.

As we work through the questionnaire and its accompanying essays, writing the answers in a notebook, we discover the many reasons why relationships go wrong – and how they might do so far less often in the future. The book considers the role of self-hatred, the influence of childhood, the importance of vulnerability, the appeal of unavailable people and the best way to overcome patterns of self-doubt and unhealthy attachment.

Our minds are such confusing places, even the most thoughtful among us can fail to know central things about how we behave in relationships. This questionnaire will help us to understand ourselves more clearly – and so set us free to discover the love we deserve.

We’re surrounded by books telling us how to be rich, or thin. This book is different from other self-help books—because it teaches us to be nicer. Niceness might not have the immediate allure of money or fame, but who among us wouldn’t like to be more patient, less irritable, or better listeners? 

 With a gently philosophical tone, this book gives us practical advice on how to forgive, how to reassure, and how to be generous. Being nice isn’t at all the same as being weak, or naive. In fact, niceness is one of the highest planes of human achievement—a super power, and a strength. Niceness deserves to be rediscovered and cultivated, and this book shows you how. Part of a new essential paperback series from The School of Life, covering a range of emotional lessons needed in order to lead fulfilled and happy lives.

• BEING NICER CAN BENEFIT OUR LIVES, often in unexpected ways.
• IN A TIME OF GLOBAL TURMOIL, this book encourages a focus on human kindness and empathy.
• CLASSIC BLACK & WHITE IMAGES throughout.
• PART OF THE NEW PAPERBACK SERIES 'LESSONS FOR LIFE'
• PRACTICAL AND ACCESSIBLE TIPS makes this an easy book to use in everyday life.

"Broadens horizons and provokes critical thought about an essential issue." - Kirkus Reviews

“This is a book for sharing. The grown-up who reads this book with you is saying that they really do want to listen and understand. They’re saying that it’s good to take time to talk about a feeling even if it seems very complicated…”

The School of Life’s thought-provoking and practical guide to one of the greatest questions we will ever face – now in paperback

To wonder too openly or intensely about the meaning of life can seem a peculiar, ill-fated and faintly ridiculous pastime. It can seem like a topic on which ordinary mortals cannot make much progress. In truth, it is for all of us to wonder about, define and work towards a more meaningful existence.

This book considers a range of options for where the meaning of life is to be found, including love, family, friendship, work, self-knowledge and nature. We learn why certain things feel meaningful while others don’t, and consider how we might introduce more meaning into our activities.

What follows is a hugely thought-provoking as well as practical guide to one of the greatest questions we will ever face.

An essential guide to modern etiquette—now in paperback 

Life is full of awkward social situations; we forget someone's name while making introductions, we're stuck on the elevator with our boss, we run into our ex on a first date. While these dilemmas might feel trivial, they tap into some of the deepest themes of our social existence: how to pursue our own agenda while honoring the happiness and needs of others? How to go beyond the surface level when relating to another person? 

Featuring twenty case studies from our modern world, this book puts good manners back at the center of our lives. Far from being old fashioned or stuffy, The School of Life argues, etiquette provides a framework through which to create a kinder and more considerate world. 

• THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ETIQUETTE IN THE 21ST CENTURY 
• NAVIGATING OUR MOST AWKWARD SOCIAL SITUATIONS this practical and relevant guide offers tips and scripts. 
• TWENTY CASE STUDIES AND ACTIONABLE ADVICE for dealing with common social dilemmas. 
• HOW TO WIN PEOPLE OVER, how to approach strangers at a party, and how to write an effective thank you note - the chapters in this book address common perplexing social situations head on. 
• BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGHOUT

The School of Life’s approach to self-awareness - in a pocket format.

In the second of a series of pocket books, The School of Life has distilled its most essential ideas on self-awareness in order to produce a bitesize manual that is both useful and entertaining. 

Understanding ourselves is the key to unlocking our true potential. Here is a collection of The School of Life’s most penetrating insights into the puzzles of self-awareness. By exploring key themes within the topic of self-knowledge, such as Emotional Intelligence, Anxiety, Normality, Pessimism and Self-sabotage, this book teaches us how to look into ourselves, how to make sense of our past, and how to overcome anxiety and confusion. 

In a highly accessible form, The School of Life introduces us to a person we’ve been in flight from for too long and will benefit hugely from getting to know: our deep selves.

Pair with the Know Yourself Prompt Cards, designed to help lead you through the important task of knowing yourself a little better in life.

The School of Life’s approach to love - in a pocket format 

In the first of a series of pocket books, The School of Life has distilled its most essential ideas on love in order to produce a bitesize manual that is both useful and entertaining. 

We learn – among other things – how to pick partners more reliably, how to avoid conflict and how to know whether a relationship is really for us. By exploring key themes within the topic of relationships, such as Anxious Attachment, Attachment theory, Long-term love, Romantic disappointment, Secrets in love and Crushes, this book shows us how satisfied love life is not a chance event but something that we can all plot for and achieve. 

Love is a skill, not an emotion; this is a guide to how we might master it.

Pair with the Connect Cards and The Compatibility Game, to help foster connection and closeness.

From The School of Life— a roadmap for the emotionally mature adult 

Most of us want to be more emotionally mature and better able to face up to life’s challenges with poise, confidence, kindness and good-natured intelligence. We want to be grown-ups! 

With gentleness and insight, How Emotionally Mature Are You?  helps us to zero in on the key markers of psychological adulthood. It prompts us to look at how we respond to rejection, frustration, anxiety, ambiguity and hope, by asking questions such as: How much do we like ourselves? Do we worry too much about the opinions of other people? What might be the best way to become a more interesting person? 

This questionnaire considers the childhood, the role of self-love and the perils of perfectionism – as well as the best ways to achieve self-belief and overcome impostor syndrome. In a series of accompanying essays, we are given material to reflect on – and shown how to reach the emotional age we aspire to be.

Pair with the Emotional Barometer to reach a clearer understanding of our inner emotional weather.

A new series of Therapeutic Tales from the School of Life—now in paperback. 

Anna is a kind and thoughtful person, in her mid-twenties. But lately, life has been hard. Her job is extremely stressful, her relationship is lacking balance and support, she has a difficult and complicated family history. It’s not hard to see a bit of ourselves in her. 

In a style that’s brief and poignant, we follow Anna as she slowly unpacks the roots of her own self-suspicion and discovers something we all deserve but have so often been denied: a voice of our own. 

With beautiful documentary photography on each page, this is fiction as therapy—and it seeks to offer the reader consolation, recognition and therapeutic insight.

• A COMPACT AND PHILOSOPHICAL GUIDE TO THE ART OF TRAVELING
• 20 ESSAYS TO INSPIRE WANDERLUST
• INCLUDES BLANK PAGES FOR NOTES and a built in pocket for saving mementos.
• FULL COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT

Since around 1750, we have been living in the era of Romanticism, which has shaped the way we approach love, marriage, and sex. When it comes to love, this book argues, Romanticism has been a disaster. Full of real-life examples, lively humor, and cultural anecdotes, Relationships teaches us: 

• That love and sex may not always go together (and that’s OK)
• That discussing money early on, in a serious way, is not a betrayal of love That acknowledging respective flaws can be a couple’s superpower
• That we will never find everything we need in another person
• That spending two hours discussing whether bathroom towels should be hung up or can be left on the floor has its own dignity

With wisdom, wit, and compassion, this innovative guide paves the way to a new, brighter future for love. Part of a new essential paperback series from The School of Life, covering a range of emotional lessons needed in order to lead fulfilled and happy lives.

• DOWN WITH ROMANTICISM! this book teaches you how to find love, and keep it—without rosy-colored glasses. 
• LEARN THE SKILL OF LOVE—AND LIVING WITH YOUR PARTNER’S FLAWS a refreshing, skills-based take on how to approach relationships, and be realistic about long term partnership. 
• PRACTICAL RELATIONSHIP ADVICE like why to talk about money early on, and how to find dignity in the dreary domestic details of life.
• CLASSIC BLACK & WHITE IMAGES throughout.
• PART OF THE NEW PAPERBACK SERIES 'LESSONS FOR LIFE'

Often, the most difficult aspect of work has nothing to do with deadlines, promotions, or competition. It has to do with the immense and beautiful challenges of dealing, on a daily basis, with our colleagues.

The people we work with can encourage, support, and energize us, However, working successfully around others, whether virtually or in person, is neither intuitive nor simple. It requires us to communicate effectively, to understand our own blind spots and biases, and to empathize with another person's perspective. 

The School of Life has been working with organizations since its foundation, equipping employees with the emotional intelligence required to succeed. This book collects their learning into a series of lessons on workplace psychology. The result is an essential guide to harmonious, happier, and more profitable organizations.

• A PRACTICAL GUIDE: to working successfully with our colleagues.
• FULL OF THOUGHTFUL EXERCISES AND ADVICE: for working collaboratively.
• EXPLORES CHALLENGING WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR: such as defensiveness, over-optimism, and immaturity.
• THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED AND CLIENT-DRIVEN: informed by practical experience and research from The School of Life for Business who deliver in-house training for clients including: Facebook, The Financial Times, Google, Havas Media, Nike, and Sony Music.
• AN INFORMATIVE GUIDE: for individuals and businesses alike.

A practical guide to finding fulfilling work - by understanding yourself.

The idea that work might be fulfilling rather than just necessary is a recent invention. These days, in prosperous areas of the world, we don't only expect to get paid, we also expect to find meaning and satisfaction. It's a big ask and explains why so many people have an identity crisis in their work lives.

The School of Life: A Job To Love is designed to help us better understand ourselves in order to find a job that is right for us. It explores the myths, traps and confusions that get in our way, and shows us how to develop new, effective attitudes and habits.

With compassion and practicality, this book guides us to discover our true talents and to make sense of our confusion, desires, and aspirations - before it is too late.

• FIND A CAREER YOU LOVE: a guide to finding fulfilling work through self-exploration.
• PRACTICAL EXAMPLES AND EXERCISES: to inspire fresh thinking about our jobs and ourselves.
• BEAUTIFULLY PRODUCED: with classic black and white illustrations.
• PART OF THE NEW PAPERBACK SERIES 'LESSONS FOR LIFE'

20 unique prints encapsulating the most important lessons The School of Life has to teach.

Bold Truths is a collection of philosophical lessons immortalized as 20 colorful art prints. 

From the UK's leading artists and designers, these ready-made posters can be easily lifted out and displayed. These beautiful prints remind us of things we might subscribe to in theory but often forget in practice. They tell us that we are "Good enough", that "No one is normal", "Everyone is scared", "Failure endears", and "There are no true adults."

A perfect combination of beauty and utility, these graphic posters provide both decoration and philosophical guidance.

• 20 INDIVIDUAL REMOVABLE PRINTS of key lessons from The School of Life, encapsulated in poster format.
• POSTERS FROM LEADING ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS including Marcia Mihotich, Jack Smyth, Miriam Goldstein, Sarah King, Sarah Easter, Calvin Hayes and Bethany Baker.
• READY TO FRAME prints will fit 11 x 14” picture frames with mount and can easily be removed from the book and attractively displayed.
• HIGH QUALITY HEAVY CARDSTOCK with PAD binding so posters can easily be removed.
• PHILOSOPHICAL REMINDERS each poster includes a mini-essay on the back.

A bold rethinking of the wedding ceremony - and what comes before and after - designed to prepare us for modern marriage.

Many couples today feel uncomfortable with the rituals traditionally associated with getting married. The old ceremonies can feel too overtly religious and out of step with the complexities of contemporary relationships. In response to this dilemma, The School of Life has rethought the ideal wedding day and redesigned the entire process from scratch.

The book begins by proposing new methods of psychological preparation, providing practical advice on how to prepare not only for the day of the wedding, but for the long marriage that follows. Also included is a practical and thoughtfully redesigned wedding ceremony, covering everything from picking a venue to writing vows and selecting readings.

With their trademark wisdom and warmth, The School of Life presents a bold rethinking of one of humankind's most important and popular rituals.

• AN OUTLINE FOR A NEW KIND OF WEDDING CEREMONY: based on psychological theory rather than religious traditions.
  
• INCLUDES PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION: for marriage preparation, as well as advice for married life.
• GENDER INCLUSIVE: and non-heteronormative.
• PART OF THE NEW PAPERBACK SERIES 'LESSONS FOR LIFE'

From the distinctive delight of holding a child’s hand to the paradoxical fun of a friendly argument to the peaceful joy of watching a sunset, this is a guide to the wealth of small pleasures that comprise our daily lives. 

In a culture that encourages the pursuit of large, self-aggrandizing gratification, this book is a refreshing reminder that small pleasures are in fact points of access to the great themes of our lives. By focusing our attention on the small moments that move us, we heighten our senses and return to the world with newfound excitement and enthusiasm. Part of a new essential paperback series from The School of Life, covering a range of emotional lessons needed in order to lead fulfilled and happy lives.

• 52 SHORT AND DIGESTIBLE meditations on life’s small pleasure, designed for five minute snatches of time in between real life demands.
• REFOCUS YOUR GAZE ON THE SMALL THINGS — and gain a fresh perspective and look at life with new found enthusiasm and energy.
• CLASSIC BLACK & WHITE IMAGES throughout.
• PART OF THE NEW PAPERBACK SERIES 'LESSONS FOR LIFE'

California Reading Association’s 2021 EUREKA! Nonfiction Children’s Book Awards - Gold Award Winner

Emotions are like animals:

No two are quite the same.
Some are quiet; some are fierce;
And all are hard to tame.

Children experience all sorts of emotions: sometimes going through several very different ones before breakfast. Yet they can struggle to put these feelings into words. An inability to understand and communicate their moods can lead to bad behavior, deep frustration, and a whole host of difficulties further down the line. Like adults, they need help to recognize and verbalize their inner state. The greater their emotional vocabulary, the more likely they are to grow into happy, healthy, and fulfilled adults.

An Emotional Menagerie is an emotional glossary for children. A book of 26 rhyming poems, arranged alphabetically, that bring our feelings to life—Anger, Boredom, Curiosity, Dreaminess, Embarrassment, Fear, Guilt, and more. The poems transform each emotion into a different animal to provide a clear and engaging illustration of its character: how it arises; how it makes us behave and how we can learn to manage its effects. Boasting a rich vocabulary, the poems also give children a wide variety of options for describing their feelings to others.

Filled with wise, therapeutic advice, brought to life through musical language and beautiful illustrations, An Emotional Menagerie is an imaginative and universally appealing way of increasing emotional literacy.

• AN EMOTIONAL GLOSSARY FOR CHILDREN: with 26 rhyming poems, arranged alphabetically.
• ILLUSTRATED BY RACHAEL SAUNDERS: whimsical and humorous full color illustrations throughout.
• TEACHES CHILDREN EMOTIONAL LITERACY: through imaginative poems connecting different animals to common emotions.
• IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS: by helping children articulate their feelings.
• FOR AGES 5 AND UP

Daily journal for children aged 9-12 to promote self-knowledge, confidence, happiness and emotional well-being.

Children love to explore, born with a boundless desire to understand the world around them. While most of the outside world has already been mapped, there's a whole other world that has yet to be discovered, one that's accessible only to them: their own minds.

The Book of Me is a guided journal promoting self-discovery in children ages 9 to 14. With beautiful illustrations by Ben Jarvis throughout, the book takes readers on a journey inside themselves, helping them explore their mind, moods, imagination, bodies, and relationships.

Written in a warm and engaging tone, The Book of Me helps kids create a rich and unique self-portrait through fun exercises, including:

• Keeping a mood diary
• Writing down what emotion a song makes us feel
• Making up new words and their definitions
• Channeling Picasso by drawing an object or person in a new way
• Using shared knowledge to make friends

By writing, drawing, cutting out, and coloring in, children can begin to untangle the mysteries of existence and work out who they really are-and who they might become.

Combining psychology, philosophy, and sheer fun, The Book of Me introduces children to the vital art of self-knowledge, showing how it can help us grow into calmer, wiser, and more rounded human beings.

• OVER 50 FUN ACTIVITIES AND EXERCISES for children to help them develop their self-awareness.
• EMOTIONAL LITERACY encourages children to explore how they think, feel and experience the world around them.
• ENGAGING ILLUSTRATIONS BY BEN JAVENS encourage kids to creatively explore mind, body, imagination, moods, relationships, and future.
• PAPERBACK WITH FLAPS for kids on the go.

A book to offer clarity and guidance when facing the difficult decision of whether your relationship has a future

Should you stay or leave?

Whether we should stay in or leave a relationship is one of the most consequential and painful decisions we are ever likely to confront.

What makes the issue so hard is that there are no fixed rules for judgment. How can we tell whether a relationship is “good enough” or just not the right fit? How do we draw the line between longing and naivety? Is sex vital or can a relationship survive without it? Does someone “better” actually exist? How much should the feelings of children be considered (and what might they be in the long term)? Could one’s partner change, perhaps with therapy, or should one assume that who they are now is who they will always be?

All these questions typically haunt us as we weigh whether to stay or go. With no ax to grind, or ideology to promote, this book takes the reader (gently) through their options and opens their mind to perspectives they might not have considered. The goal is to help clarify what the reader wants—truly wants—deep down, so that the answer that emerges will be properly attuned to their unique circumstances and often very private aspirations. Here is a tool that carries the promise of the future we deserve.

This book aims to take the reader towards a time, perhaps presently hard to imagine, when the choice of whether to stay or go will no longer feel so agonizing. This book helps us understand ourselves deeply, helps us consider our options, minimize our regrets—and find the way ahead.