Hospital metaphor
In the following metaphor, Botton compares life to a hospital, commenting on people's obsession with moving to new places in the hopes of finding happiness:
"Life is a hospital in which every patient is obsessed with changing beds: this one wants to suffer in front of the radiator, and that one thinks he'd get better if he was by the window."
Hunger metaphor
Botton uses a metaphor to describes how people "hunger," for "exotic experiences." Describing it in this way suggests people have a real desire for fulfillment:
"What we find exotic may be what we hunger for in vain at home."
Youthful crush metaphor
When speaking about Flaubert's attraction to Egypt, Botton comments on how he "simply replaced an absurdly idealized image with a more realistic but nevertheless still profoundly admiring one." He uses a metaphor to describe how he "exchanged a youthful crush for a knowledgeable love."
Scattered metaphor
Botton uses a metaphor to describe how people are born in different places with no say over the matter. He writes that "we are all of us, without ever having any say in the matter, scattered at birth by the wind unto various countries." Overall, this is a beautiful way to describe how people are born into different places.
Senses metaphor
Botton describes how we determine whether somewhere is beautiful, saying that we find things beautiful "as immediately and apparently spontaneously as we find snow to be cold or sugar sweet." In this way, he describes our perception of beauty as being almost like our senses.
