Acclaim for Alain de Botton’s STATUS ANXIETY “A generous and humane book that offers thought-provoking solutions to status anxiety…. De Botton’s answers, buttressed by a wealth of insightful quotes and wonderful artwork, are as compelling as they are crisply laid out. A readable, edifying exploration of our fears about where we stand in society and how we can best mitigate our concerns.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Clever and wise. De Botton’s gift is to prompt us to think how we live and, just as importantly, how we might change things.” —The Times (London) “Thought-provoking…. De Botton is a man of excellent taste …[choosing] magnificent passages from Adam Smith, William James, Friedrich Engels et al.” —Los Angeles Times “Where other media-minded intellectuals offer their readers a diet of know-it-all certitudes garnished with sarcasm and raucous indignation, de Botton is always solicitous, unopinionated and self-deprecating…. This is philosophy in the manner or Montaigne or Thomas Browne …a gentle stoicism reminding us that when things do not pan out as we would like, it may be better to amend our desires than to try changing the world.” —The Times Literary Supplement “Illuminating…. As in his other clever and insightful books, de Botton has chosen a single topic and explores its myriad possibilities with clarity and precision…. With clear and often comical prose, he leads us to our own insights into the human condition.” —The Times-Picayune (New Orleans) “[De Botton] has such an original point of view, we listen, just to get his new take on whatever subject he brings up.” —Chicago Tribune “De Botton analyses modern society with great charm, learning and humor…. And it’s clear that de Botton’s purpose is serious and highly sophisticated. He reaches to the heart of a troubling paradox. Why is it that we who enjoy lives of unparalleled prosperity are still capable of feeling miserable? His remedies come as a welcome relief.” —Daily Mail “As de Botton zig-zags through history collecting examples and illustrating points, his reasoning acquires an elegant simplicity…. A lively and wise little book.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Status Anxiety confirms [the] impression [that de Botton is] an expert in just about anything…. It isn’t that he’s working with new material. Every fact he cites is part of the known universe. It’s that he cites it with wit and wonder, offering a heaping helping of art, philosophy, science and social gamesmanship.” —The Charleston Post and Courier “Perceptive…. Like any good shrink, de Botton first analyses our obsession with status, then diagnoses five ways to deal with it…. His prescription for leading a happier life is a powerful one.” —New Statesman Alain de Botton STATUS ANXIETY Alain de Botton is the author of three previous works of fiction and three of nonfiction, including The Art of Travel, The Consolations of Philosophy, and How Proust Can Change Your Life. He lives in London. More information can be found at www.alaindebotton.com. ALSO BY ALAIN DE BOTTON On Love The Romantic Movement Kiss & Tell How Proust Can Change Your Life The Consolations of Philosophy The Art of Travel CONTENTS CAUSES I. Lovelessness II. Expectation III. Meritocracy IV. Snobbery V. Dependence SOLUTIONS I. Philosophy II. Art III. Politics IV. Religion V. Bohemia DEFINITIONS Status – One's position in society; the word derived from the Latin statum or standing (past participle of the verb stare, to stand). – In a narrow sense, the word refers to one’s legal or professional standing within a group (married, a lieutenant, etc.). But in the broader—and here more relevant—sense, to one’s value and importance in the eyes of the world. – Different societies have awarded status to different groups: hunters, fighters, ancient families, priests, knights, fecund women. Increasingly since 1776, status in the West (the vague but comprehensible territory here under discussion) has been awarded in relation to financial achievement. – The consequences of high status are pleasant. They include resources, freedom, space, comfort, time and, as importantly perhaps, a sense of being cared for and thought valuable— conveyed through invitations, flattery, laughter (even when the joke lacked bite), deference and attention. – High status is thought by many (but freely admitted by few) to be one of the finest of earthly goods. Status Anxiety – A worry, so pernicious as to be capable of ruining extended stretches of our lives, that we are in danger of failing to conform to the ideals of success laid down by our society and that we may as a result be stripped of dignity and respect; a worry that we are currently occupying too modest a rung or are about to fall to a lower one. – The anxiety is provoked by, among other elements, recession, redundancy, promotions, retirement, conversations with colleagues in the same industry, newspaper profiles of the prominent and the greater success of friends. Like confessing to envy (to which the emotion is related), it can be socially imprudent to reveal the extent of any anxiety and, therefore, evidence of the inner drama is uncommon, limited usually to a preoccupied gaze, a brittle smile or an over-extended pause after news of another’s achievement. – If our position on the ladder is a matter of such concern, it is because our self-conception is so dependent upon what others make of us. Rare individuals aside (Socrates, Jesus), we rely on signs of respect from the world to feel tolerable to ourselves. – More regrettably still, status is hard to achieve and even harder to maintain over a lifetime. Except in societies where it is fixed at birth and our veins flow with noble blood, our position hangs on what we can achieve; and we may fail due to stupidity or an absence of self- knowledge, macro-economics or malevolence. – And from failure will flow humiliation: a corroding awareness that we have been unable to convince the world of our value and are henceforth condemned to consider the successful with bitterness and ourselves with shame. Thesis – That status anxiety possesses an exceptional capacity to inspire sorrow. – That the hunger for status, like all appetites, can have its uses: spurring us to do justice to our talents, encouraging excellence, restraining us from harmful eccentricities and cementing members of a society around a common value system. But, like all appetites, its excesses can also kill. – That the most profitable way of addressing the condition may be to attempt to understand and to speak of it. PART ONE CAUSES