#self-improvement 1,004 stories

"There's no genre more discredited than self-help. It's become synonymous with sentimentality, idiocy and hucksterism. This verdict is not unfair. The book covers are frequently garish; the promises overblown. But to dismiss the idea that underpins self-help—that one might at points stand in urgent need of solace and education—seems an austerely perverse prejudice." — Alain de Botton