The School of Life

How to find compassion, hope and perspective in the arts. 

Many people search for the meaning of life through music, film, literature and the visual arts. But how can we synthesize the emotions we feel through art? 

This book looks at how works of culture were made - that is, to improve the way we live. Connecting a range of (Western) cultural masterpieces with our own pains and dilemmas, we learn to better see culture as a resource, a way to address the agonies of being human. 

It provides us with enduring keys to unlocking culture as a way of transforming our lives. 

Using common themes - such as companionship, hope balance, compassion, knowledge, encouragement, appreciation, and perspective - and combining them with works from Bach to Renoir, The Beatles to Mel Gibson's Braveheart, Hamlet, Anselm Kiefer, and writers like Proust and Virginia Woolf, this book provides the key to unlocking culture. Indeed, the keys to transforming our lives.

• HOW MUSIC, FILM, LITERATURE AND VISUAL ART operate in our society and lives. 
• EXPLORES CULTURAL MASTERPIECES and how they relate to our everyday lives. 
• ILLUSTRATED with full color images throughout. 
• THOUGHT-PROVOKING CONCEPTS that enhance any future visit to a gallery, theater or cinema. 
• BEAUTIFULLY PRODUCED premium gift format.

This is an unusual sort of history book: a history of ideas – and not just any old ideas, ideas from across time and space that are best suited to healing, enchanting and reviving us.

Along the way, we travel around the world, from the very beginnings of our species right up to the modern age. We hear about the Ancient Greeks and Romans, we learn about Buddhism and Islam, we acquire ideas from Hinduism and the European Renaissance, the Enlightenment and Modernity. Deliberately eclectic, the book gives us a panoramic, 3,000-year view over the finest insights of a diversity of civilisations. 

Every idea hangs off an image – it could be a place, a document, a building or a work of art – that has something very specific to teach us. There are ideas here that will stick in our minds because they can help to answer the biggest puzzles we may have: about the direction of our lives, the issues of relationships, the meaning of existence. 

The book amounts to a feast for the intellect and the imagination – to make us into the best sorts of historians, those who know how to use the past to shed light on their own lives.

Twenty case studies explaining how to gently deliver a range of life’s most awkward messages while causing minimal harm.

Life constantly requires us to give other people some hugely awkward messages: that we don’t love them anymore; that we do love them (though we’re not meant to); that they smell a bit; that they’re fired; that we’re furious with them (though we adore them) or that their music is too loud...

Often, out of embarrassment, we just stay quiet. Occasionally we explode. And typically, we stumble about, looking for the right words – dreading that we didn’t find them and thereby causing more hurt than we should.

This is a book to help us locate the best possible words to get across a range of life’s most difficult messages. With twenty case studies drawn from relationships, friendships, work, our families, and social situations, we are gently shown what we might – in an ideal world – find ourselves saying to make our intentions known while causing minimal harm. We are guided, among other topics, to how best to end a relationship, how to make it up with a child, and how gently to let down a friend who wants more.

We laugh, we recognize our troubles – and we’re introduced to a range of deeply empathetic ways to navigate some of our most acute social dilemmas.

• GIFT: beautifully packaged in premium gift format.
• A PRACTICAL GUIDE: helpful advice on navigating a range of awkward social situations, from the everyday to the unforeseen.
• PLAYFUL ILLUSTRATIONS: a fun, entertaining read.
• ENGAGING: case studies help demonstrate effective communication in family, work, and relationships.
• SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: crucial tools for navigating social situations with ease.

"These entries imaginatively connect confidence to everything from capitalism to leaving a party early, make for a thought-provoking and wide-ranging exploration. Those seeking an extra shot of self-esteem will be rewarded" - Publishers Weekly

A curated selection of 40 photographs and artworks with accompanying essays examining confidence as a skill

James Baldwin on a bridge in Paris, happy in the freedom of his self-determined exile…

The Bloomsbury Group, well-mannered disruptors…

Barack Obama, captured at ease in the Oval Office…

Everyday life, unique architecture, people in movement going against the grain: in forty iconic images, On Confidence illustrates moments of happiness and ease. 

This first in a new giftable series—with photographs and short, inspiring essays, and featuring artists and photographers like Vincent van Gogh, Mary Cassat, Pablo Picasso, Adrienne Salinger, and Sian Davey — On Confidence shows us that confidence is a skill that can be learned, and used for success.

• THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED FOLLOW UP to to Big Ideas for Curious Minds.
• A THOUGHTFUL AND PRACTICAL GUIDE to the world of careers, aspirations, and jobs.
• TALKS TO CHILDREN ABOUT MONEY in an an approachable, pragmatic way.
• BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS by Tyla Mason throughout.
• INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES for children 8 and up.

The School of Life’s guide to the rest of a life together

Our society devotes huge attention to the start of a marriage – and the wedding ceremony —but the real challenge lies beyond the wedding, with the long years ahead, and here we are often left alone.

This box is The School of Life’s guide to the rest of a life together, containing twenty beautiful cards which lay out the central ideas on how to make a relationship work over the decades beyond the wedding day. It is filled with artful suggestions on coping with what even the most loving couple will face as they build a life together. This set of cards is both a celebration of marriage and a rich source of insights into the skills it demands.

A set of 60 cards to remind us of the many reasons we have to be thankful

We are experts at focusing on what is missing from our lives. Our dissatisfaction often serves us well; it keeps us from complacency and boredom. But we are also dragged down by an inability to stop, take stock and recognize the abundance around us. In our haste to secure the future, we omit to notice the good. This pack of cards is designed to help us pause in our striving and, for a few moments, remember some of what we have to be grateful for — a consoling, soothing balm to carry around or keep close at hand.

The Dilemmas Game —What would you do if…

In life, we are regularly faced with dilemmas: complex moral problems for which there are no obvious answers. When a friend confesses to having an affair, do we keep their secret? When a stranger is crying on the bus, do we offer comfort or keep our distance? In such moments, we long for some good advice to help us find a way forward. 

The Dilemmas Game invites you to flex your moral muscles and compare your problem-solving skills with those of your friends and family. Players must propose different solutions to 52 common dilemmas, using analogies or drawing on real-life experiences to explain their answers. It’s a fun and enlightening way of practicing for the inevitable quandaries of life. The cards cover five categories: Relationships, Work, Sociability, Family, and Leisure.

60 prompt cards designed to help lead you through the important task of knowing yourself a little better 

It's hard to understand who we really are: what we want, how we feel and why we react as we do. This lack of self-knowledge can cause trouble. It makes us get into the wrong relationships, pick jobs we don’t love or spend money unwisely. No wonder Socrates summed up all the counsel of philosophy in just two words: “Know Yourself.” 

These cards are designed to assist us in a journey of self-knowledge. They present us with a range of ideas and questions that can help us to understand ourselves better. Each card carries an exercise on one side and a piece of analysis on the reverse to help you gain insight and clarity on that ever elusive subject: yourself.

Laugh & Reconnect With Those Who Matter Most

The idea of family lies close to the meaning of life, but in practice, families do not always come together, or chat about what matters, or laugh as much or as often as they should.

The Family Game is the solution; this is a game expressly designed to help family gatherings live up to our highest hopes. It consists of a host of questions (chosen randomly with a dice) that kick-start the best sorts of conversations: ones in which we reconnect, say things we always meant to, laugh warmly together – and remember why family counts. The cards cover five categories: Gentle Teasing, Gratitude, Self, Memories, and Regret.

52 exercises to stimulate creativity, playfulness and innovative thinking

Whatever our job title, our work will always benefit from new ideas and fresh ways of thinking. We’re used to regarding inspiration as something that arrives more or less at random; it is in fact a skill that we can learn to develop in ourselves and call on whenever we need it.

Inspiration gives us a toolkit for generating new ideas. Here are 52 exercises designed to foster an inventive frame of mind. We don’t need to wait for inspiration to strike! With this set, we can kindle inspiration when we need it. Each exercise prompts us to work on a particular creative muscle and helps us to establish the psychological conditions for original work. Drawing insights from the worlds of art, music, psychotherapy and innovation, this is an invaluable (and playful) resource for creatives and professionals alike, helping our minds to become more reliable, lightning rods to stoke flashes of inspiration.

• A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH to a more meaningful life.
• PRACTICAL TIPS ON NAVIGATING ANGER, INTIMACY, AND EXCEPTIONALISM
• A GUIDE TO FINDING EXCITEMENT at work, in relationships, and within.

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.

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 gift format with ribbon marker.

52 cards to deepen and transform the experience of travel

Going travelling can be one of life’s greatest activities – but often, we fail to deepen the experience as much as we should and return home with some of the promises of our trip unrealized. 

Here is a pack of cards designed to help us get the very best out of travel – and to embed its greatest lessons in our minds. These cards contain questions that we can reflect on privately (in a journal or on a train ride) or ask others in a group. This is an ingenious, low-tech, high-impact solution to one of the great conundrums of travel: how to ensure that the reality of going away will match our hopes. And it makes a great bon voyage gift!

A guide to the art of failing well—with actionable tips and a gentle approach

This is a hopeful, consoling, gentle book about failure. Our societies talk a lot about success, but the reality is that no one gets through life without failing – in small and usually also in large ways. Sometimes our failures are very obvious, at other times, we feel we have to conceal them out of shame. This book encourages us to accept the role that failure plays for all of us and to feel compassion for ourselves for the messes we can’t help but make as we go through our lives.

Full of actionable tips on how to approach life's inevitable failures from small to large, this is the perfect volume for anyone who has ever gone through a breakup, suffered a career crisis, made enemies, fumbled a project, or wasted their time. (In other words: everyone.)

There is nothing more human than failing—and nothing wiser and more necessary failing well.

• PRAGMATIC ADVICE ON how to be resilient and endure regret, so we can recover and move on from despair and catastrophe.
• WE ARE NOT ALONE explores various examples of real-world failure and reminds us that we are not alone in making mistakes.
• EMPATHETIC AND REAL written from the perspective of those who have failed and survived their failure.
• CHAPTERS INCLUDE How to Deal with the Meanness of the World, What Love Really Is and Why It Matters, Finding Perspective, Fear and Self-Hatred, and Self-Compassion.

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 moving look at the ties that bind."— Publisher's Weekly

An intimate look at the complexities of family life told through evocative photography and authentic interviews.

Families are a mystery. Is everyone’s as complicated as ours? Is there such a thing as a "normal" one? We generally only get to see the polished exteriors and are left to imagine what might be going on behind closed doors. Here is a book that takes us on a tour around the reality of families. It provides a rare, privileged glimpse into private realms, allowing us a new, profound understanding of ourselves and others. 

Comprised of 60 interviews and portraits captured by five supremely talented photographers – Mark Hobbs, Kate Peters, Marjolaine Ryley, Michelle Sank and Naomi Williams – the book introduces us to an extraordinary array of participants: new parents, stepchildren, siblings, the wealthy and the marginalized, the old and the young.

In this book, photographs intertwine with the the subject's story, reminding us of Humans of New York - a photographic project by Brandon Stanton which portraits daily glimpses into the lives of strangers on the streets of New York City.

What surfaces is the astounding diversity of family life – and the number of commonalities too. Above all, we recognize the fundamental role that family plays in making us who we are.This is a book for anyone who has ever wondered about their family or fantasized about being part of someone else’s – in short, this is a book for us all.

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'

Learn to Talk. Learn to Listen. 

What would you like to tell your mother, if she could really listen?

If you could wave a magic wand, what would you want to be able to alter about your life?

When we end up in a really good conversation with a friend, we sometimes pay them a slightly unusual but sincere compliment: we say that chatting to them feels like talking to a good therapist. What we tend to mean is that they’re giving us space to talk, not interrupting us or dispensing advice: they’re actually listening. 

This game cannot turn us into real therapists (that would take years of training). But like many good games, it gives us a chance to try out, in an entertaining yet safe way, one of the most interesting sides of a great profession. 

The Therapy Game offers us a rare opportunity to listen and speak to one another at truly fulfilling length and depth.

Drawing on in-depth analysis, How to Find Love explains our instinct for romantic self-sabotage and provides a crucial set of ideas to help us make safer, more imaginative and more effective choices in love.

• A GUIDE TO MAKING BETTER DECISIONS IN LOVE: and how to choose the "right" partner.
• PRESENTS THE TOOLS WE NEED: to break unhealthy relationship habits.
• PART OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S GIFTABLE ESSAYS SERIES: other titles include Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person, Why We Hate Cheap Things, and Self-Knowledge.
• DRAWS FROM THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S CORE CURRICULUM

The Confessions Card Game - A simple game of cards and dice opening up daring conversations

From adolescence onwards, one of the great struggles we face is how to reconcile our own desires with those we find socially acceptable. 

The best encounters with friends are those where we can talk honestly about what's going on in our lives, sharing triumphs, joys, fears and longings - without the usual shyness or reserve. This confessions game—meant to be played with friends—guarantees that the warmest, most fascinating conversations won’t have to be left to chance. With the help of a dice and some cards, the game asks participants to answer a series of questions around career, sex, money, relationships, family, gently inviting everyone to share important bits of themselves in an intimate and playful atmosphere. 

By thinking of confessions as a game – as a sociable and exploratory activity, as opposed to a risky affair – the cards prompt us to open ourselves up to interesting and exhilarating conversations, allowing us to be a little more honest around the most intimate aspects of ourselves.

Confidence is a skill that anyone can learn.

Despite the confidence we build over time in our field of work, we tend to overlook the primordial need for a more free ranging variety of confidence - one that can serve us in the course of our everyday lives: speaking to strangers at parties, asking someone to marry us, asking someone on the train to turn down their music, changing the world. 

This is a guidebook to confidence, why we lack it, and how we can gain more if it in our lives. On Confidence walks us gently through key issues that hold us back, and gives us the tools we need to fulfil our potential. 

• LEARN THE SKILL OF CONFIDENCE and how to apply it to everyday life.
• AN IN-DEPTH EXPLORATION of confidence and how we can achieve it.
• A PRACTICAL AND INSPIRATIONAL GUIDE to overcoming imposter syndrome, self sabotage, and much more.
• PART OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S ESSAY BOOK SERIES including: Self Knowledge, The Sorrows of Work, The Sorrows of Love, How To Find Love, How To Reform Capitalism, What Is Culture For?, What Is Psychotherapy?, Why We Hate Cheap Things, Why You Will Marry The Wrong Person.

40 Place Cards with 80 Questions for Sparking Meaningful and Revealing Conversations Around the Table 

“If you had to write a book, what would it be about?”

A meal with friends is only ever as good as the questions we ask one another. 

Too often, we fall back on polite but not so inspired staples: “What are you doing this weekend?” or “What do you do for work?”, and so on. But there are better kinds of questions – questions that work like magic to open up our hearts, draw out our memories and promote generosity, fun and interesting conversation.

This pack collects 80 of these sorts of questions to ensure a meal together can be at once meaningful, entertaining and touching. For casual dinners with friends, or potentially rife holiday meals with relatives.

Laid out on place cards, the questions gently and charmingly pull our fellow diners towards the sort of topics that matter most to our deeper selves – and help us get the most out of one another.

60 prompt cards designed to help you find compassion and empathy

We are all interested in being kind—at least, in theory. In practice, a lot gets in the way: tiredness, anger, bitterness. But a lack of kindness lies at the heart of so much of what goes wrong at work, in friendships, and in love. These Kindness Prompt Cards present us with a series of thoughts that nurture our sympathy, our powers of compassion, and our appetite for forgiveness. They return us to who we always want to be and deep down already are: kind people.

50 of the best insights and sayings from the great Stoic thinkers 

“If you have the will to conquer anger, it cannot conquer you.”—Seneca

Originating in Greece around 300 BCE, Stoicism was for many centuries the most popular philosophy in the Western world, teaching people practical advice on how they could flourish in uncertain times and overcome their anxieties. This box of cards gathers together the best insights and sayings from the great Stoic thinkers and marries them up with commentaries that bring out their applicability to our own lives. 

This is both an elegant summary of ancient philosophy and a route to self-knowledge, serenity and strength of mind. 

How to Use the Cards These cards are designed to introduce us to the philosophy of Stoicism and its relevance to our day to day lives. On one side, we find quotations from its leading proponents: among them, the ex-slave Epictetus, the politician and dramatist Seneca, and the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. On the reverse, we learn more about the history, beliefs, and practice of Stoicism from its origins to the present day. They can either be read individually or as a continuous essay. Once contemplated, the cards can then be kept or displayed somewhere close at hand as a continual reminder of stoic wisdom.

• 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.
• INNER POCKET CONTAINING ORDER OF SERVICE BOOKLET: (including suggested vows and readings) and emotional prenuptial contract.
• GENDER NEUTRAL: and non-heteronormative.
• BEAUTIFULLY PRODUCED: high end gift format. Royal-blue cover and page trim, gold foil embossed title, blue endpapers and gold ribbon.
• ILLUSTRATED: with full color images.

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'

A linen-bound notebook designed to accommodate ideas, aspirations and worries in the therapeutic activity of your thoughts. 

We have so many vague feelings of hurt, envy, anxiety, and regret, but for the most part we never stop to make sense of them. It’s too uncomfortable and especially difficult because we are so often busy and frazzled, hyper-connected yet a bit lonely. To really understand what we feel and think, we must turn away from distractions, common sense, and other people’s opinions. We need to develop intimacy with ourselves. Writing is ultimately the task of discovering and developing what we think. There could hardly be a more important personal goal.

Anyone we might marry could be wrong for us - even just a little bit. We know that perfection is not in the cards. And yet, errors of deep-seated incompatibility in married couples seem to occur regularly. 

This informative (and funny) book examines the reasons why - and then suggests a new approach to marriage. The time has come to bury the Romantic intuition-based view of marriage and learn to practice and rehearse marriage as one would ice-skating or violin playing, activities no more deserving of systematic periods of institution.

• BASED ON THE NEW YORK TIMES MOST-READ ARTICLE OF 2016
• A THOUGHT-PROVOKING ESSAY COLLECTION about relationships and marriage. 
• A PESSIMIST'S GUIDE TO MARRIAGE offering insight, practical advice, and consolation. 

As our smartphones have become indispensable to our daily routine, it is important to take some space to reflect on our lives outside of technology. 

The School of Life has designed Phone Detox, a palm-sized book filled with a variety of insights, as a clever counter to those idle moments so often filled with endless scrolling. 

Full of ideas and meditations, these mini-essays offer a refreshing analog experience. From poetry, to travel, to tips on dating - and even headier, bite-size meditations on topics like addiction, monasticism, nature, utopia - Phone Detox offers a much needed (occasional) reset for our addled, buzzing minds. This flip book is a tool that aims to bring a little sanity to our closest, most intense technological relationship. 

Mini-Essays Cover Topics Including: 

- Addiction 

- Monasticism 

- Poetry 

- The News 

- Beyond Instagram 

- Dating 

- Nature 

- Shopping 

- Travel 

- Death 

- Utopia 

• FITS IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND: Like a phone, only - cleverly - it's not a phone. 
• FROM THOUGHT-PROVOKING TO HUMOROUS: The quick-read style of this book runs the gamut from serious, to philosophical, to practical and even funny. 
• TAKE A BREAK FROM YOUR CELL PHONE TO RETURN TO YOUR CELL PHONE: Have fun with our analog flip book to clear your brain for more scrolling!

• A DARKLY COMIC BEDTIME STORY FOR ADULTS the perfect gift for parents at any stage.
• FULLY ILLUSTRATED SPREADS by Ben Javens.
• A WITTY ALTERNATIVE to the happy endings of children's books.
• REFRESHINGLY HONEST helps readers navigate the trials of adulthood with humor.

Discussions to Keep Love True Relationships—and a tool with which to save love

Relationships usually go wrong not because we are “bored”  or “with the wrong person”— but because we have failed to make ourselves understood and haven’t managed to understand our partner. Sometimes, relationships need to hit a restart button. 

These cards reopen channels of emotional communication. Compact, with questions and supporting micro-essays, invite candor, confession and radical openness. We often give up on each other too soon. Relationships that, with the right assistance, might have been good enough (or even more than that) come unstuck because we don’t work out how to speak about, and listen to, what is really on our minds. This box is a tool with which to save love.

A pack of 52 cards to help us understand what truly matters through deep and entertaining conversation

What do you wish you had realized earlier?
What do you secretly enjoy?
What would the child you think about the adult you?

We sometimes playfully wonder what the meaning of life might be - but it can be hard to kick start a conversation with ourselves (let alone with anyone else) around such a daunting subject. 

Here are 52 cards that directly and elegantly lead us to some of the largest questions about life and its meaning – cards that help us and our companions to think with exceptional depth about what truly matters, where we see ourselves heading and what gives life its purpose. This is a tool for direction, clarity – and some of the deepest yet most fun and entertaining conversations we’ll ever have.

• A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: within romantic relationships.
• THE 20 MOST COMMON ARGUMENTS: and how to use them as a catalyst for growth.
• PART OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S LOVE SERIES: focusing on the joys and sorrows of relationships.

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

A collection of enlightening quotes, delivering some of the most important lessons The School of Life has to offer.

This is a selection of the very best and most psychologically acute quotations from The School of Life, covering such large and diverse topics as relationships, regret, anxiety, work, friends, family, travel and, not least, the meaning of life. Some of these quotations elicit an immediate nod of recognition, others leave us thoughtful and a few are just plain funny.

The book is organized by The School of Life’s key themes – Relationships, Self-Knowledge, Sociability, Work, Calm and Leisure – that together amount to a tour around the most profound sorrows and joys of the human mind and heart. Offering comfort and consolation in a compact format with quirky illustrations by Avi Ofer, The School of Life: Quotes to Live By is ideally suited to our impatient, anxious and searching times.

• QUOTES ARE FOCUSED AROUND THE KEY MESSAGES FROM THE SCHOOL OF LIFE: on a range of themes, including - Relationships, Self Knowledge, Sociability, Work, Calm and Leisure.
• QUIRKY AND FUN ILLUSTRATIONS: throughout by Avi Ofer.
• A BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED AND CAREFULLY CURATED OBJECT: that makes for an ideal gift for others or yourself.

Without prompting children often ask some of the largest questions about time, mortality, happiness and the meaning of life. Yet all too often their inborn curiosity is not developed and, with age, the questions fall away. This book addresses some of their more complex questions by introducing accessible philosophical concepts from 25 famous thinkers, contextualized in relatable everyday scenarios. Presented in an interactive question and answer format this book takes us to meet leading figures of philosophy from around the world and from all eras—and shows us how their ideas continue to matter.

With discussions about some of the most vibrant and essential philosophical ideas of history, this accessible book functions as an ideal introduction to the subject as well as a charming way to open up conversations between children and adults about the biggest questions we all face.

• FEATURED AS ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S BEST KIDS' BOOKS OF 2018
• 26 WISE AND VARIED IDEAS: to inspire curiosity in young minds.
• INCLUDES THOUGHTFUL ACTIVITIES: to prompt conversations between adults and children.
• A CHILDREN'S INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY: inspired by great thinkers such as Simone de Beauvoir, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Plato.
• RELEVANT AND ENGAGING FOR KIDS 9 AND UP: chapters include: Maybe You're Just Tired, Learn To Say What's On Your Mind and Why You Might Feel Lonely.
• FULL COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANNA DOHERTY THROUGHOUT

A linen-bound notebook designed to accommodate ideas, aspirations and worries in the therapeutic activity of your thoughts

We have so many vague feelings of hurt, envy, anxiety, and regret, but for the most part we never stop to make sense of them. It’s too uncomfortable—and hard to do, because we are so often busy and frazzled, hyper-connected, yes, but perhaps lonely beneath the surface.

To really understand what we feel and think, we must turn away from distractions, common sense, and other people’s opinions. We need to develop intimacy with ourselves. Writing is ultimately the task of discovering and developing what we think. There could hardly be a more important personal goal.

We are all familiar with procrastination, and often feel guilt about all that is left to get done. We rarely get around to reflecting on why we put things off. This insightful pocket guide argues that procrastination isn't a weird affliction, it sometimes has things to teach us. 

With mini-essays on Perfectionism, Deadlines, and The Limits of Hard Work, this is a book about understanding the root of our procrastination, managing it, and getting the most out of our afternoons on the couch.

A practical guide that explores the roots of procrastination and offers the reader thoughtful advice on the art of managing it, all written in the soothing, trademark voice of The School of Life.

• HOW TO USE, AND CONQUER, PROCRASTINATION: An insightful pocket guide that teaches us how to better understand and manage this common affliction. 
• ADVICE YOU ACTUALLY WANT: Mini-Essays offer advice and guidance on a variety of topics including Perfectionism, Deadlines and The Limits of Hard Work. 
• SPIRAL-BOUND GIFT FORMAT: With full color illustrations throughout. 
• PORTABLE: Comes in a nice, compact size.

Drawing as a therapeutic practice - for any level - including 80 guided drawing exercises as an aid to self-understanding and fulfillment.

When we’re young, all of us draw.

Drawing as Therapy is a collection of playful, creative prompts and exercises that introduce us to the curative powers of drawing. Divided into eight chapters, they invite us to reflect on different aspects of our life and psyche – our personality, moods, memories and passions – by attempting to render them through art. Through art, you can discover hidden byways of our minds, find new perspectives on our difficulties, summon a state of calm, and begin a process of self-recovery and healing.

The exercises won’t teach you how to draw. Instead, they will teach you an entirely new way of thinking about drawing, where there is no such thing as failure or success, only self-discovery and, in the best sense, play.

• INSPIRATIONAL this inspirational guide prompts us to express ourselves creatively and use artistic expression as a form of emotional release.
• NO ONE IS WATCHING the point is not to draw well, but to draw with authenticity, no matter your level of artistic ability.
• 80 DRAWING EXERCISES surprising, innovative, like SARK but with a British soul...
• 8 UNIQUE THEMES Self, Mood, Memory, Play, Love, Calm, Perspective & Re-enchantment.
• DRAWING AS THERAPY draws from psychological theories by Adrian Hill, Edward Adamson and Donald Winnicott.
• GIFT beautifully produced, premium gift format.
• SOLVE PROBLEMS AS YOU DRAW with research-backed therapeutic prompts.

• A HELPFUL COMPANION FOR THE RESTLESS INSOMNIAC
• A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO ALL THE THINGS THAT KEEPS US UP AT NIGHT and what we can do to loosen their power.
• INCLUDES RELAXING EXERCISES TO UNBURDEN THE MIND and make way for sleep.
• NO TWO PAGES ARE THE SAME innovative design reflects the ceaseless workings of the nocturnal brain.
• FULL COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT

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

Essays in Love by Alain de Botton charts the progress of a love affair from the first kiss to argument and reconciliation, from intimacy and tenderness to the onset of anxiety and heartbreak. 

A Lover's Discourse by Roland Barthes examines the language we use when we are in love, arguing that it is not a language we speak. It is a language addressed to ourselves and to our imaginary beloved. It is a language of solitude, of mythology, of what Barthes calls an "image repertoire". 

On Love by Stendhal is a profound attempt to rationalize that most complex of emotions - romantic love. Inspired by unrequited passion, he brings together logical, clear-sighted analysis with all-consuming emotion, to most remarkable effect. The result is an astonishing work that bears all the hallmarks of Stendhal's later masterpieces. 

Conditions of Love by John Armstrong explores how our perception of love is formed by culture and history by drawing on writers such as Plato, Tolstoy and Freud. 

• TIMELESS WISDOM ON LOVE from acclaimed philosophers throughout the ages. 
• COLLECTABLE BOX SET of deluxe hardcover editions.
• ESSENTIAL CLASSIC AND MODERN TEXTS curated by The School of Life. 
• AWARD-WINNING DESIGN Winner of a Design and Art Direction award: Wood Pencil/Book/Design/Specialist & Limited Edition Books 2016.

Psychotherapy is one of the most valuable inventions of the last hundred years, with an exceptional power to raise our levels of emotional well-being, enhance our relationships, heal the wounds of the past, and help us mine our professional potential. But it is also profoundly misunderstood science.

Working with a therapist can make us less angry, improve our confidence, and, perhaps most importantly, make us more loving towards ourselves and others.

Through engaging historical analysis and relevant case studies, this book explains psychotherapy in depth: why we need it, how treatment works, and what the outcome of a therapeutic intervention looks like. The book argues that psychotherapy is the single greatest step any of us can take towards self-understanding and fulfillment.

This book attempts to explain psychotherapy: why it is needed by us all, how those needs are addressed by treatment and what the outcome of a therapeutic intervention could be. The book reflects a fundamental belief of The School of Life that psychotherapy is the single greatest step any of us can take towards self-understanding and fulfillment. A course of therapy stands to render us ever so slightly less angry, self-defeating, unconfident, lost and sad.

• PSYCHOTHERAPY EXPLAINED a demystifying guide to the purpose and meaning of psychotherapy.

• UNLOCK THE POWER OF THERAPY to improve self love, communication, trust, and honesty.

• EXPLORES POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC OUTCOMES using case studies as examples.

• DEBUNKS COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS about the science of psychotherapy.

• PRACTICAL ADVICE ON AFFAIRS: and on dealing with the aftermath of an affair.
• WHY DO AFFAIRS HAPPEN?: historical and psychological framework to help us understand affairs-both the lead up, and the aftermath.
• A FRESH TAKE ON INFIDELITY: and how it impacts our lives.
• PART OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S LOVE SERIES: focusing on the joys and sorrows of relationships.

How to build a true library for happiness -  recommended reading from The School of Life, featuring 100 books that offer therapeutic insight and enlightenment 

There are about 130 million books in the world – and they are being added to at a rate of 4 million a year or so. 

 Which ones should we really read? What are the books that count? Which ones are going to make a real difference to us in the limited time we  have?

 This is The School of Life's answer: a definitive list of the 100 books that we feel should truly matter to anyone who cares about their development and growth, 100 books that are guaranteed to inspire, console and uplift us. We find books from all over the world, some very well known, others fascinatingly unfamiliar, united by a common ability to help us grow into the best versions of ourselves and to combat anxiety, despair and loneliness.

 This book answers one of the great questions we all face: how to assemble the perfect set of books with which we can acquire self-understanding, calm and emotional maturity.

• 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

On Divorce: An illustrated guide to the challenges and joys of separation is the debut title in a new portrait photography series by The School of Life.

Photographer Harry Borden’s portraits of divorce offer a powerful and often unexplored emotional window into the hearts and private moments of this common modern journey.

The photographs and accompanying texts were captured and recorded over two years by the British photographer Harry Borden (himself divorced). This series of portraits aims to understand and normalize something a lot of us go through, with testimonies from the subjects themselves, and thoughts and observations that pull us toward compassion, identification, curiosity, self-reflection and empathy. 

The book also features an introduction by The School of Life. 

A set of 20 cards featuring fresh perspectives through which to look at life

We are constantly at risk of losing perspective around the challenges we face. We mistake what is manageable, or we despair too soon. We alienate others by over-reacting, or we don’t notice and appreciate what there is still to be grateful for.

These cards provide eloquent invitations to recover a wiser, calmer, redemptive perspective on our lives. Each card identifies a fresh perspective we might take on problems – perspectives colored by time, space, history, culture and travel among others – nudging us gently and compassionately towards a more liveable relationship with our difficulties.

A collection of 80 imaginative games and activities designed to engage and entertain without a screen.

Whether we’re big or small, it can be hard to get away from our screens. Most children spend between five and seven hours a day looking at some form of screen – and most grown-ups spend twice as much time. Screens promise endless entertainment, but the more time we spend with them, the more we lose sight of all that is strange, fascinating, and delightful in the world around us. Even when we’re stuck indoors, there are infinite possibilities for banishing boredom and having fun so long as we use our imagination. All we need are a few helpful suggestions....

Screen-Free Fun contains 80 of the weirdest and most wonderful activities children can do at home, all without using a screen. Rather than scrolling or tapping, you’ll be invited to draw, make, write, invent, dress up, hide, seek, and discover. You can paint like Picasso or meditate like Buddha; become an indoor entomologist or a home Olympian; make up a new language or a mythical creature; and even find the fun in some household chores.

Inventive and irreverent, this book is the perfect companion for humdrum days and wet weekends. It is a compendium of the world’s strangest, silliest and most stimulating activities.

• DISCONNECT from tech by connecting to children’s natural curiosity and creativity.
• 80 UNIQUE ACTIVITIES inspires creativity and curiosity.
• EASY you already have the materials around the house.
• ENTERTAINING inventive activities that keep kids entertained without a screen.
• EDUCATIONAL FUN encourages children’s natural curiosity through learning new facts and practicing new skills.
• GIFT eye-catching, colorful design.
• AGES 8 AND UP activities the whole family will enjoy.

This third book in the best-selling Big Ideas series introduces readers to the classics, as well as modern children’s fiction—a charming addition to Big Ideas for Curious Minds and Big Ideas from History

Great stories are often universal: our very souls shine with new ideas when we read them. Books can be so powerful, helping us through tricky times, offering us wisdom we haven’t learnt yet, showing us that there are people like us, or showing us the opposite, that other people live very different lives. Books can be a friend when you need one the most and you can use them to help and inspire others, too.

Big Ideas from Literature helps the child discover key ideas that lots of different books are trying to teach through the stories they tell – and helps the growing child develop empathy and resilience.

This book teaches children (and adults!) about the history of literature, from the first ever story that was written down to the invention of books just for children. The best children’s books become our dearest friends and companions. 

Children discover characters from a diverse range of books – including J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Young Dark Emu: A Truer History by Bruce Pascoe – and learn how these stories can help them better understand the world around them.

A set of double-sided cards designed to help us become more confident—and more resilient

We often overestimate how fragile we are. In our nightmares, we assume that life would become impossible for us far earlier than it actually would. In reality, we could manage perfectly well with a lot less than we currently have. Not that we should want this to happen, of course: it’s simply that we could bear it. This set of cards is designed to gently remind us that we are far stronger than we imagine.

Short prompts on one side are accompanied by illustrative photographs on the reverse.

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.

• OVER 150 RECIPES TO NOURISH THE MIND
• INTRODUCES SIXTEEN KEY INGREDIENTS that evoke emotions like hope, playfulness, and self love.
• INCLUDES "CONVERSATION MENUS" that prompt fascinating conversations for eating with friends.
• FULL PAGE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGHOUT

This little book teaches us about the history of dating, the best way to discuss our past on our date, what questions to ask a new partner, and how to learn from a bad date. Both heartfelt and perceptive, it provides us with an indispensable road map to the varied, sometimes delightful, sometimes daunting realties of dating. 

Dating might seem like a trivial and relatively inconsequential part of love, but it is in fact the key to finding a lasting relationship. Dating allows us to explore some of the biggest themes of romantic love; how to know if someone is right for us; how soon to settle and how long to search; how to be at once honest and seductive; how to say "no" if a situation doesn't feel right. The tone and practical advice in this little book never minimizes the agony, joys, and confusions of our dating days and nights but offers solace to the weary: there is a partner out there for all who seek. 

• A PRACTICAL GUIDE: to dating in the modern world. 
• PART OF THE SCHOOL OF LIFE'S 'LOVE' SERIES: focusing on the joys and sorrows of relationships. 
• ADVICE AND GUIDANCE: on how to make the most of our dating years. 
• AN INDISPENSABLE ROAD MAP: to the highs and lows of dating.

A guide to breaking free from the enduring, and sometimes damaging, behavioral patterns we learned in childhood. 

As we try to navigate the complexities and anxieties of adulthood, considering our childhoods can feel like a daunting task. They happened so long ago; we can probably barely remember, let alone relate to, the little person we used to be. But one of the most powerful explanations for why we struggle as adults is that we were denied the opportunity to fully be ourselves as children. 

Whether our parents or caregivers were strict disciplinarians, overly fragile, or distant and preoccupied, the way we were taught to act as children deeply influences how we behave as adults. We might have assumed the role of caregiver, become people pleasers, or learned to tell lies to protect ourselves, burying our true needs and desires deep underground. 

When we thoroughly examine our upbringings, the larger implications for our adult selves become clear. Once we understand the roots from which our flaws stem, we can begin to correct the harmful behaviors we mistakenly believe to be innate. 

This book is a guide to better understanding our younger selves in order to shape who we wish to be today. It explores to what extent we can pin our actions in the present to our experiences in the past, and how we can break free from the learned patterns of our childhoods.

• CONSTRUCTIVE ADVICE for moving on from our childhoods.
• DRAWING FROM THE PSYCHOLOGICAL teachings of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott.
• EXPLORES POPULAR CONCEPTS such as “The Golden Child,” splitting, and emotional inheritance.
• UNLEARN PROBLEMATIC CHILDHOOD HABITS to improve our current emotional condition.

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.