What Love Really Is – and Why It Matters
There is so much talk of love in our societies, it would be natural to think that we must by now know what it is and why it counts. Love is…
Sociability: Social Virtues
- 01. What Love Really Is – and Why It Matters
- 02. The Need for Kindness
- 03. 6 Reasons Not to Worry What the Neighbours Think
- 04. What to Do When a Stranger Annoys You
- 05. How to Choose A Good Present
- 06. How to Be a Good Guest
- 07. How To Make People Feel Good about Themselves
- 08. How To Tell When You Are Being A Bore
- 09. What Is Empathy?
- 10. How Not to Rant
- 11. How Not to Be Boring
- 12. In Praise of Blushing
- 13. On Eggs and Compassion
- 14. How to Become an Adult
- 15. People-Pleasing: and How to Overcome It
- 16. Why Truly Sociable People Hate Parties
- 17. How to Be Diplomatic
- 18. Sane Insanity
- 19. Charity of Interpretation
- 20. How to Be a Good Teacher
- 21. The Solution to Clumsiness
- 22. How to Be a Man
- 23. Political Correctness vs. Politeness
- 24. The Importance of Selfishness
- 25. Aphorisms on Kindness
- 26. Why We Don’t Really Want to Be Nice
- 27. The Charm of Vulnerability
- 28. The Ultimate Test of Your Social Skills
- 29. How to Be Open-Minded
- 30. Why Kind People Always Lie
- 31. How to Be Warm
- 32. The Problem of Over-Friendliness
- 33. How to Forgive
- 34. Why We’re Fated to Be Lonely (But That’s OK)
- 35. How to Cope with Snobbery
- 36. On Charm
- 37. On Being Kind
- 38. On Gratitude
- 39. On Forgiveness
- 40. On Charity
- 41. On Wisdom
The Need for Kindness
When we are little, one of the first, and most boring, lessons we ever receive is in the primordial importance of being – as adults put it – ‘kind’. It’s because…
6 Reasons Not to Worry What the Neighbours Think
We have reduced it down to a trite error – ’worrying about what the neighbours think’ – as if this were a trap that only a mediocrity could ever fall into.…
What to Do When a Stranger Annoys You
In every life, we are constantly confronted with situations where a stranger will do something acutely irritating or discomforting: perhaps they’ll turn up their music too loudly on the train, or…
How to Choose A Good Present
One of the reasons it can be so hard to buy other adults presents is that we haven’t at some level quite factored in that we are now all grown-ups. Presents…
How to Be a Good Guest
It’s normal to want to be a good guest; an intense wish to please tends to guide us when we accept a dinner invitation or spend a weekend with friends. And…