What They Forgot to Teach You At School: Essential Emotional Lessons Needed to Thrive

We probably went to school for what felt like a very long time. We probably took care of our homework. Along the way, we surely learnt intriguing things about equations, glaciers’ erosion, the Middle Ages’ history, and the tenses of foreign languages.

But why, despite all the lessons we sat through, where we never taught the really important things that dominate and trouble our lives: who to start a relationship with, how to trust people, how to understand one’s psyche, how to move on from sorrow or betrayal, and how to cope with anxiety and shame?

The School of Life is an organisation dedicated to teaching a range of emotional lessons that we need to lead fulfilled and happy lives – and that schools routinely forget to teach us. This book is a collection of our most essential lessons, delivered with directness and humanity, covering topics from love to career, childhood trauma to loneliness. To read the book is to be invited to lead kinder, richer and more authentic lives – and to complete an education we began but still badly need to finish. This is homework to help us make the most of the rest of our lives.