The School of Life: Quotes to Live By: A collection to revive and inspire

When we are around small children who frustrate us, we don’t declare them evil; we find less alarming ways of interpreting the origins of their difficult behaviour: perhaps they are getting a bit tired, their gums are sore or they are upset by the arrival of a younger sibling. Given how immature every adult necessarily remains, the moves we execute

Much of life is about correctly determining on whom and on what we should finally give up.

People reveal their sanity by their gracious knowledge and acceptance of their mad sides. A standard question on any initial dinner date should simply be: ‘In what particular ways are you crazy?’ We should beware of those who can’t answer or get offended.

It takes time and experience to realise that we cannot, in the end, rescue anyone – at best, just facilitate certain moves they were on their way to making anyway.

Anyone can land on a disturbed partner; the healthy among us can be identified by the speed with which they assess the problem and the decisiveness and deftness with which they can exit.

As adults, we strive to cultivate the character traits that might have rescued our parents.

Rather than feel guilt, people who have hurt us typically start to hate us – for reminding them of their cruelty.

Marriage ceremony: a couple making hopeful vows on behalf of two people whom they don’t know – and who won’t exist for another twenty years.

The only people we can think of as normal are those we don’t yet know very well.