For the rest of history, for most of us, our bright promise will always fall short of being actualised; it will never earn us bountiful sums of money or beget exemplary objects or organisations.... Most of us stand poised at the edge of brilliance, haunted by the knowledge of our proximity, yet still demonstrably on the wrong side of the line, our dealings with reality undermined by a range of minor yet critical psychological flaws (a little too much optimism, an unprocessed rebelliousness, a fatal impatience or sentimentality). We are like an exquisite high-speed aircraft which for lack of a tiny part is left stranded beside the runway, rendered slower than a tractor or a bicycle.

It was a bestseller in the US and UK. What's in a Marriage?: Argues that expecting one person to be a good partner lover and parent is almost asking the impossible. —The Independent

Negative reviews allege that de Botton tends to state the obvious from a position of privilege and have characterized some of his books as pompous and lacking focus.

In August 2008 he was a founding member of a new educational establishment in central London called The School of Life. In October that year de Botton was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in recognition of his services to architecture. His books and television programmes discuss various contemporary subjects and themes emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life.