Many of you may know Arthur Schopenhauer as the German philosopher who wrote The World as Will and Representation, but after having taken a closer look at his work I have to say I was deeply impressed.
Arthur Schopenhauer
His work may sound harsh but it is raw and honest. It is like a breath of fresh air, and even thought it’s been decades since he walked this Earth, it is ever so relevant today as it was back in the 1800’s.
See for yourself!
44 Life-Changing Lessons to Learn from the Wise Arthur Schopenhauer
1. Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.
“Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
2. A man can be himself only so long as he is alone.
“A man can be himself only so long as he is alone.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
3. What you are to yourself in your loneliness and isolation is more essential that everything you may possess or be in the eyes of others.
“What a person is for himself, what abides with him in his loneliness and isolation, and what no one can give or take away from him, this is obviously more essential for him than everything that he possesses or what he may be in the eyes of others…”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
4. What you are contributes much more to his happiness than what you have or how you are seen by others.
“What a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has or how he is regarded by others.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
5. If you do not love solitude, you will not love freedom.
“If a man does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
6. It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.
“It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
7. There is no more mistaken path to happiness than worldliness.
“Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people. There is no more mistaken path to happiness than worldliness.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
8. Treat a work of art like a prince: let it speak to you first.
“Treat a work of art like a prince: let it speak to you first.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
9. Every satisfaction is only transitory.
“It would be better if there were nothing. Since there is more pain than pleasure on earth, every satisfaction is only transitory, creating new desires and new distresses, and the agony of the devoured animal is always far greater than the pleasure of the devourer”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
10. The pain in the world always outweighs the pleasure.
“Pleasure is never as pleasant as we expected it to be and pain is always more painful. The pain in the world always outweighs the pleasure. If you don’t believe it, compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is eating the other.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
11. All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
12. To see the general in the particular is the very foundation of genius.
“Always to see the general in the particular is the very foundation of genius.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
13. Loss is what teaches us about the worth of things.
“Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
14. We seldom think of what we have, but always of what we lack.
“We seldom think of what we have, but always of what we lack.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
15. We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people.
“We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
16. Life is a constant process of dying.
“Life is a constant process of dying.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
17. We all take the limits of our own for the limits of the world.
“Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
18. It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain.
“It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
19. The difficulty is to try and teach the multitude that something can be true and untrue at the same time.
“The difficulty is to try and teach the multitude that something can be true and untrue at the same time.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
20. Satisfaction consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of life.
“Satisfaction consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of life.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
21. The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.
“The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
22.Whatever one may say, the happiest moment of the happy man is the moment.
“Whatever one may say, the happiest moment of the happy man is the moment… falling asleep, and the unhappiest moment of the unhappy that of his awaking.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
23. With the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain.
“Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
24. After your death you will be what you were before your birth.
“After your death you will be what you were before your birth.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
25. If we suspect that a man is lying, we should pretend to believe him; for then he becomes bold and assured, lies more vigorously, and is unmasked.
“A man finds himself, to his great astonishment, suddenly existing, after thousands and thousands of years of non-existence: he lives for a little while; and then, again, comes an equally long period when he must exist no more.
The heart rebels against this, and feels that it cannot be true.”“If we suspect that a man is lying, we should pretend to believe him; for then he becomes bold and assured, lies more vigorously, and is unmasked.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
26. A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.
“A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
27. Life for every individual viewed as a whole and in general is really a tragedy, but gone through in details, it has the character of a comedy.
“The life of every individual, viewed as a whole and in general, and when only its most significant features are emphasized, is really a tragedy; but gone through in detail it has the character of a comedy.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
28. If you want to know your true opinion of someone, watch the effect produced in you by the first sight of a letter from him.
“If you want to know your true opinion of someone, watch the effect produced in you by the first sight of a letter from him.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
29. Conscience accompanies every act with the comment: You should act differently, although its true sense is: You could be other than you are.
“Conscience accompanies every act with the comment: You should act differently, although its true sense is: You could be other than you are.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
30. There are very few who can think, but every man wants to have an opinion.
“There are very few who can think, but every man wants to have an opinion; and what remains but to take it ready-made from others, instead of forming opinions for himself?”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
31. It is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.
“It is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
32. Will power is to the mind like a strong blind man who carries on his shoulders a lame man who can see.
“Will power is to the mind like a strong blind man who carries on his shoulders a lame man who can see.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
33. Any book which is at all important should be re-read immediately.
“Any book which is at all important should be re-read immediately.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
34. Without books the development of civilization would have been impossible.
“Without books the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are the engines of change, windows on the world, “Lighthouses” as the poet said “erected in the sea of time.” They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind, Books are humanity in print.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
35. Hope is the confusion of the desire for a thing with its probability.
“Hope is the confusion of the desire for a thing with its probability.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
36. If a woman succeeds in withdrawing from the mass, or rather raising herself from above the mass, she grows ceaselessly and more than a man.”
“I have not yet spoken my last word about women. I believe that if a woman succeeds in withdrawing from the mass, or rather raising herself from above the mass, she grows ceaselessly and more than a man.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
37. Ordinary people merely think how they shall ‘spend’ their time; a man of talent tries to ‘use’ it.
“Ordinary people merely think how they shall ‘spend’ their time; a man of talent tries to ‘use’ it.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
38. Music expresses only the quintessence of life and its events, never these themselves.
“The inexpressible depth of music, so easy to understand and yet so inexplicable, is due to the fact that it reproduces all the emotions of our innermost being, but entirely without reality and remote from its pain… Music expresses only the quintessence of life and its events, never these themselves.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
39. If life were possessed of any positive intrinsic value, there would be no such thing as boredom at all: mere existence would satisfy us in itself, and we should want for nothing.
“If life — the craving for which is the very essence of our being — were possessed of any positive intrinsic value, there would be no such thing as boredom at all: mere existence would satisfy us in itself, and we should want for nothing.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
40 .To free a man from error is to give, not to take away.
“To free a man from error is to give, not to take away. Knowledge that a thing is false is a truth. Error always does harm; sooner or later it will bring mischief to the man who harbors it.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
41. Whatever torch we kindle, and whatever space it may illuminate, our horizon will always remain encircled by the depth of night.
“Whatever torch we kindle, and whatever space it may illuminate, our horizon will always remain encircled by the depth of night.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
42. Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death.
“Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
43. A genuine work of art, can never be false, nor can it be discredited through the lapse of time, for it does not present an opinion but the thing itself.
“A genuine work of art, can never be false, nor can it be discredited through the lapse of time, for it does not present an opinion but the thing itself.”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
44.Why is it that, in spite of all the mirrors in the world, no one really knows what he looks like?
“Why is it that, in spite of all the mirrors in the world, no one really knows what he looks like?”~ Arthur Schopenhauer
Bonus:
“It may sometimes happen that a truth, an insight, which you have slowly and laboriously puzzled out by thinking for yourself could have easily have been found already written in a book: but it is a hundred times more valuable if you have arrived at it by thinking for yourself.
For only then will it enter your thought system as an integral part and living member, be perfectly and firmly consistent with it and in accord with all its other consequences and conclusions, bear the hue, colour and stamp of your whole manner of thinking, and have arrived at just the moment it was needed ; thus it will stay firmly and forever lodged in your mind.”
“A man is never happy, but spends his whole life in striving after something that he thinks will make him so; he seldom attains his goal, and when he does, it is only to be disappointed; he is mostly shipwrecked in the end, and comes into harbour with mast and rigging gone.
And then, it is all one whether he is happy or miserable; for his life was never anything more than a present moment always vanishing; and now it is over.”
“The life of an individual is a constant struggle, and not merely a metaphorical one against want or boredom, but also an actual struggle against other people. He discovers adversaries everywhere, lives in continual conflict and dies with sword in hand.”
“In our early youth we sit before the life that lies ahead of us like children sitting before the curtain in a theatre, in happy and tense anticipation of whatever is going to appear. Luckily we do not know what really will appear.”
“Life presents itself first and foremost as a task: the task of maintaining itself, the task of earning one’s living. If this task is accomplished, what has been gained is a burden, and there then appears a second task: that of doing something with it so as to ward off boredom, which hovers over every secure life like a bird of prey.
Thus the first task is to gain something and the second to become unconscious of what has been gained, which is otherwise a burden.”
“That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which are hard to satisfy; that their satisfaction achieves nothing but a painless condition in which he is only given over to boredom; and that boredom is a direct proof that existence is in itself valueless, for boredom is nothing other than the sensation of the emptiness of existence.”
“If the immediate and direct purpose of our life is not suffering then our existence is the most Ill-adapted to its purpose in the world: for it is absurd to suppose that the endless affliction of which the world is everywhere full, and which arises out of the need and distress pertaining essentially to life, should be purposeless and purely accidental. Each individual misfortune, to be sure, seems an exceptional occurrence; but misfortune in general is the rule.”
“The ingenious person will above all strive for freedom from pain and annoyance, for tranquility and leisure, and consequently seek a quiet, modest life, as undisturbed as possible, and accordingly, after some acquaintance with so-called human beings, choose seclusion and, if in possession of a great mind, even solitude.
For the more somebody has in himself, the less he needs from the outside and the less others can be to him. Therefore, intellectual distinction leads to unsociability.”
“All striving comes from lack, from a dissatisfaction with one’s condition, and is thus suffering as long as it is not satisfied; but no satisfaction is lasting; instead, it is only the beginning of a new striving. We see striving everywhere inhibited in many ways, struggling everywhere; and thus always suffering; there is no final goal of striving, and therefore no bounds or end to suffering.”
“The art of not reading is a very important one. It consists in not taking an interest in whatever may be engaging the attention of the general public at any particular time. When some political or ecclesiastical pamphlet, or novel, or poem is making a great commotion, you should remember that he who writes for fools always finds a large public. A precondition for reading good books is not reading bad ones: for life is short.”
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