Alain de Botton, this is the guy who essentially turned philosophy into luxury self-help. He was born in Switzerland in 1969, but quickly threw himself into the world, entering Cambridge University and becoming the mentor of contemporary intellectuals who pretend to understand Nietzsche while drinking gourmet coffee.

​

The author of bestsellers such as The Consolations of Philosophy and The Architecture of Happiness, he has managed to take hairy subjects and turn them into readings that even those who only read the book jacket can appreciate. He founded The School of Life, a project that teaches things that everyone should know but aren't taught in schools, like how to deal with rejection without freaking out. Today, he continues to write and lecture.