Alain de Botton makes some interesting points regarding success and failure...
He talks about the 'down-side' of having the idea that we are all equal and can create anything we want out of life, and that is that it causes some people to think that some one who is not a 'success' is then a 'loser' instead of an 'unfortunate' as often was the point of view in more ancient or primitive society. He points out that in a society that puts all responsibility on the self... the highs are higher, but the lows are lower, with suicide rates increasing.
Although I agree with his observations, I still want to believe in the empowering idea that we are always able to create our own reality; we are never unfortunate victims. At the end of this talk he mentions perhaps one of the most important points which is to make sure that we are true to ourselves in defining what success is... not based on what others think, but on what we want for ourselves.
He clearly was jamming many interesting thoughts into a small amount of time, without sufficient room to flesh out the concepts entirely... but it is an interesting talk to ponder. Enjoy.
