Why You Are Not a Loser

We are used to thinking very badly of selfishness. But knowing how – at points – to put ourselves first can be the precondition for our later generosity and true helpfulness to others. Being selfish has a role to play in later selflessness. Uploaded 05-04-17Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/59t5iBe more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/ILarWFURTHER READING“We’re highly attuned to the notion that being selfish is one of the worst character traits we might possess, a way of behaving associated with greed, entitlement and cruelty. And yet some of the reason we fail to have the lives we should springs from an excess of the very opposite trait: from an overweaning modesty, an over-hasty deference to the wishes of others, a dangerous and counter-productive lack of selfishness...”You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://goo.gl/Hm3EFcMORE SCHOOL OF LIFEWatch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIAFeel free to follow us at the links below:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITSProduced in collaboration with:Tom Kemphttps://vimeo.com/user26596912 #TheSchoolOfLife Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost inevitably, somewhere along the path of our friendships, we are fated to stumble upon one of the most paradoxical yet universal of characters: the envious friend. The situation is as wounding as it is uncharted. How are we to cope? Can this be happening to us?

Economists and politicians always want there to be more ‘demand’ in the economy. But they ignore whether there might be better or worse kinds of demand.

So much of our lives is spent trying to establish a place of safety: we seek safety through money, status, home insurance, health supplements… But wisdom comes from realising that there is in fact no way to be properly safe – and that we therefore need to learn the wisdom of insecurity.

A distinguishing feature of much of the modern man-made world is that it is, first and foremost, very ugly: disappointing modern architecture abounds. We've almost ceased to notice how awful a lot of it is and forgotten how much better we can do. Here are five central reasons why so many buildings have gone wrong and an urgent blueprint for how to build the more beautiful world we deserve.Uploaded 29-07-20Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/k_ZsnBe more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/kIJomFURTHER READINGYou can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/2P42lKi“One of the great generalisations we can make about the modern world is that it is, to an extraordinary degree, an ugly world. If we were to show an ancestor from 250 years ago around our cities and suburbs, they would be amazed at our technology, impressed by our wealth, stunned by our medical advances – and shocked and disbelieving at the horrors we had managed to build. Societies that are, in most respects, hugely more advanced than those of the past have managed to construct urban environments more dispiriting, chaotic and distasteful than anything humanity has ever known…”MORE SCHOOL OF LIFEWatch more films on CAPITALISM in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLcapitalismSOCIAL MEDIAFeel free to follow us at the links below:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITSProduced in collaboration with:Noelle Smith Designhttp://www.noellesmithdesign.com/ Title animation produced in collaboration withVale Productionshttps://www.valeproductions.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices