Alain de Botton Quotes
What am I supposed to do here? What am I supposed to think?
De Botton, Alain. The Art of Travel. Pantheon Books, 2002, p. 10.
This seemingly innocuous quotation became a cause celebre about freedom of speech and separation of church and state. Ms. Nootbaar, a brilliant, straight A student had a theme in her valedictory address of young people not being sure of their future aspirations. The audience laughed at the line and applauded her speech. However, her use of the word “hell” was considered a great sin by the school principle, David Smith. Smith refused to deliver Kaitlin’s diploma unless she apologized, which the young woman refused to do as it would be insincere and that lying would be a sin. Prague is in the middle of the “Bible Belt” where religious fundamentalists want the schools to enforce their view of acceptable behavior and using the word “hell” in that way was cursing and hence a sin. Nootbar was accepted at College anyway and the issue of her entitlement to the diploma went into the legal and political arena.
The question produced this silly answer from a brilliant man and public critic of the ultra conservatives’ racism within his own party. He didn’t dare say “Yes” for if he did, the opponents of the Republcian party would quote his answer to great advantage. However most of the racists in America identify with the Republican party. Although this was the party of Lincoln and the major force against slavery and segregation in America, in 1964 the racists of America were furious at Lyndon Johnson and the liberal Democrats for passing the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 over their opposition and filibusters. The Republicans then adopted their “Southern Strategy” and welcomed the racists into the Republican Party. In a few short years, the highly racist“Solid South” had changed from solid Democratic to solid Republican. Politically the Southern Strategy was very successful in the 20th Century, but started to hurt Republicans in National Elections by the end of that century.
Alain de Botton, FRSL is a Swiss-born British philosopher and author. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published Essays in Love (1993), which went on to sell two million copies. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004) and The Architecture of Happiness (2006).
