An essential guide to living wisely and well; no matter what challenges the world throws at you - from Alain de Botton; the bestselling author of The Consolations of Philosophy; The Art of Travel and The Course of Love This is a book about everything you were never taught at school. It's about how to understand your emotions; find and sustain love; succeed in your career; fail well and overcome shame and guilt. It's also about letting go of the myth of a perfect life in order to achieve genuine emotional maturity. Written in a hugely accessible; warm and humane style; The School of Life is the ultimate guide to the emotionally fulfilled lives we all long for - and deserve. This book brings together ten years of essential and transformative research on emotional intelligence; with practical topics including: - how to understand yourself - how to master the dilemmas of relationships - how to become more effective at work - how to endure failure - how to grow more serene and resilient Praise for Alain de Botton. 'Alain de Botton likes to take big; complex subjects and write about them with thoughtful and deceptive innocence' Observer