Alain de Botton Quotes

Dating is for tools.

If someone had told me years ago that sharing a sense of humour was so vital to partnerships, I could have avoided a lot of sex!

It has taken me a long time to work out the function of ex-boyfriends, at least for me: how they can help you work out what you want from life and from a partner by showing you what you don't. If a man is your ex, it's better all round if he was not Mr. Right.

I doubt whether any girl would be satisfied with her lover's mind if she knew the whole of it.

Every person is so different and I don't think there is an exact match for every person. If you meet someone and they have 20 of the 25 things you want in a person, then you're pretty lucky.

The first time you go on holiday is the test of a relationship, when you really find out if you're compatible or not. You find out what's annoying about that person, and whether or not you're willing to put up with that because you love them and you don't want to be alone.

Marrying a man is like buying something you've been admiring for a long time in a shop window. You may love it when you get it home, but it doesn't always go with everything else in the house.

I say 'date potential.' The reason why is no matter who you date, anyway, five years from now, you're going to be different, and he's going to be different. The key is to really find somebody that you can grow with that you can change with, evolve with and that you can be partners with.

When I'm on a second date with a girl, I'll ask myself, 'Can I marry this person?' And we're just trying to decide between salmon and chicken.

Some of the reason why we marry the wrong people is that we don't really understand ourselves.

I mean, I think it's hard enough to find somebody you can stand for more than ten minutes, so, like, you shouldn't narrow your options.

When I was young, I had a list of things that I wanted in a husband. I knew what he should read and what sports he should like and blah, blah, blah. But the truth is, that the list was a shocking mirror image of me. You want to marry yourself when you are young. All the things you think are so urgently important, when you get older, you discover they don't have anything to do with love.

You don't get into a relationship just for the sake of having a boyfriend. Of course, you have hopes and dreams that your first relationship will be your last.

No offense, but I don't get the whole concept of arranged marriage. I'd rather know the person who I'll settle down with.

I never thought of getting married again. I'm quite difficult to live with, I think.

I am not looking for a life partner right now. But if I've to list out the requirements, I have a huge list. But the first requirement is he should be tall and should be taller than me; even I wear heels.

Dating is hard. It's difficult and not quantity, but quality. Finding a good person.

I have no idea if I will go for an arranged marriage or love marriage.

Have you seen the oddest couple in the world, to your eyes, walking down the street? That means there's someone for everyone.

I'm not a matchmaker, I don't know the logic behind the decisions they make.

I don't think I can marry a person who I don't know; I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with him. I rather get to know the person first and then decide, instead of saying yes first and regretting it later.

Dating, to people, can mean completely different things.

That's what dating is for, after all - to learn if you're compatible with someone.

The right woman is the one you can live with, not the one in your head.

He raked his fingers through his hair. "She doesn't need me." Ralston smirked. "You are laboring under that mistaken impression that it is their job to need us. In my experience it is almost always the other way around.