Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (2000) Channel 4

Nietzsche on Hardship

We all face difficulties in our lives. But there's one philosopher who has particularly inspiring advice on how to deal with them.

Friedrich Nietzsche believed in a philosophical version of 'no pain, no gain': that any worthwhile achievements in life come from the experience of overcoming hardship, and that a comfortable, painless existence wouldn't be worth living. Alain travels to Nietzsche's home in the Swiss Alps to tell the story of the philosopher's tormented life, before putting Nietzsche's theories to people who have faced difficulties or setbacks in their own lives.

Written and presented by Alain de Botton, this series is an entertaining, practical and psychobabble-free self-help course for the philosophically minded.