# Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure -- and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2009
- Runtime: 16 min
- By: TED.com
- Genres: Education
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/AlaindeBotton_2009G)
- Licence or status: [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) (as the archive states it)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/AlaindeBotton_2009G?play=1)