Alain De Botton

I wouldn't say that he's so much a hypocrite, but I think he's a very flawed person that was trying to advance to something good.

I think so too, actually.

Well, I think, you know, many people say things like jealousy is just something that's made up.

It's a kind of capitalist emotion.

It's about ownership of property.

But, you know, look, I've just observed in myself and in others, arguing with jealousy is like arguing against the tide or the weather.

It's like good luck to you.

You know, it just is a primal force.

We're incredibly vulnerable to abandonment.

And I think that it can sometimes be really cruel to start to rationalize, to attempt to rationalize people out of their jealousy and to say things like, oh, well, it wasn't very much.

You shouldn't mind.

An intelligent person shouldn't mind about that.

It was just a chat at the party or whatever.

I think that's a way of kind of, I don't know.

I think one of the most generous things you can do is to say, I know it hurts because I've been there myself.

And

Some of us have not been made very jealous.

We've had the good luck that no one has ever kind of tested how we really are with jealousy.

But if you've had a kind of inoculative episode, it makes you, I think, much more tender towards episodes of jealousy that you witness in others.

It's fascinating because, you know, again, romanticism tells us that true love is the total opening of your heart to another person and that, you know, you will have found the right person when you can tell them everything.