“The greatest compliment I get about my writing is when people say, 'Ho...” — Alain de Botton Quote

The greatest compliment I get about my writing is when people say, 'How did you know so much about me?' And of course, the answer is very simple: 'I just observed myself without sentimentality.'

I learnt to stop fantasising about the perfect job or the perfect relationship because that can actually be an excuse for not living.

We must study love the way we study anything else that matters.

I do think that travel can be part of a journey of inner maturation, but you've got to do it right.

The Arab-Israeli conflict is also in many ways a conflict about status: it's a war between two peoples who feel deeply humiliated by the other, who want the other to respect them. Battles over status can be even more intractable than those over land or water or oil.

Over the years, more than one reviewer has described my fantasy series, 'A Song of Ice and Fire', as historical fiction about history that never happened, flavoured with a dash of sorcery and spiced with dragons. I take that as a compliment.

I always wonder if what I'm wearing will be something that people would compliment, or want to wear. I don't ever get ready just for myself, ever.

The biggest compliment I can ever get as an actor is to have someone say, 'We didn't recognize you.'

It's nice that people want to compliment you in some superficial way, but I've never considered that that's how I might be categorized. I guess it's better than being called ugly.