The School of Life: On Failure (eBook)

The School of Life is a global organization helping people lead more fulfilled lives. Through our range of books, gifts and stationery we aim to prompt more thoughtful natures and help everyone to find fulfillment. The School of Life is a resource for exploring self-knowledge, relationships, work, socializing, finding calm and enjoying culture through content, community and conversation. You can find us online, in stores and in welcoming spaces around the world offering classes, events and one-to-one therapy sessions. The School of Life is a rapidly growing global brand, with over 7 million YouTube subscribers, 389,000 Facebook followers, 246,000 Instagram followers and 163,000 Twitter followers. The School of Life Press brings together the thinking and ideas of the School of Life creative team under the direction of series editor, Alain de Botton.

Introduction
Part I: Real World Failure
i. The Many Types of Failure
ii. Should I Kill Myself?
iii. How to Deal with the Meanness of the World
iv. How to Deal with the Meanness of the Media
v. How to Live with Your Hamartia
vi. How to Deal with the Pity of Friends
vii. How to Deal with the Success of Friends
viii. A Life Devoid of Narcissism
ix. Living with Permanent Infamy
x. What Love Really Is and Why It Matters
xi. Let Him Who Is Without Sin Cast the First Stone
xii. Bourgeois Respectability
xiii. Practical Measures
xiv. Confession
xv. Finding Perspective
xvi. The Downfall of Oscar Wilde
xvii. A New Attitude
xviii. A Utopian Commune
xix. Losers as Winners
xx. Time
Part II: The Fear of Failure
i. Failure Imagined
ii. Fear and Soothing
iii. Fear and Self-hatred
iv. Trauma and Fearfulness
v. Fear and Money
vi. Fear and Fame
vii. Impostor Syndrome
viii. The Benefits of a Breakdown
ix. Fear and Paranoia
x. On Not Thinking Straight
xi. Self-compassion
xii. A Less Pressured Life
xiii. Thinking of the Worst