This lecture by Alain de Botton is inspiring, entertaining and even mindblowing. Have you ever thought that sometimes embracing sadness and pessimism could help you achieve better things in life? It may seem a little odd but it does make sense. If you have half an hour to spend, I suggest you listen to this.

“In this secular sermon, Alain challenges the great bourgeois promise that everyone can find happiness in love and work and suggests that we take on the joys of pessimism instead. He argues that the chances of anyone succeeding in both areas (let alone in one) are extremely remote – and that it is therefore peculiar, and deeply cruel, to base our societies around these values. Indeed, in denying a place for misery and despair, the modern world denies us the possibility of collective consolation, condemning us instead to solitary feelings of shame and persecution. ”