Arthur Schopenhauer
Biography
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his atheistic pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, *On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason*, which examined the fundamental question of whether reason alone can unlock answers about the world. Schopenhauer's most influential work, *The World as Will and Representation*, emphasized the role of man's basic motivation, which Schopenhauer called will. His analysis of will led him to the conclusion that emotional, physical, and sexual desires can never be fulfilled. Consequently, he favored a lifestyle of negating human desires, similar to the teachings of ancient Greek Stoic philosophers, Buddhism, and Vedanta.
Quotes from Arthur Schopenhauer
"To live alone is the fate of all great souls."
71
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
72
"A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants."
73
"Compassion is the basis of morality."
74
"Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude."
75
"With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy."
76
"Every parting gives a foretaste of death, every reunion a hint of the resurrection."
77
"There is no doubt that life is given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome; to be got over."
78
"Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination: both depend on being outside rather than inside a situation, and one leads to the other."
79
"We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people."
80
"Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right."
81
"Opinion is like a pendulum and obeys the same law. If it goes past the center of gravity on one side, it must go a like distance on the other; and it is only after a certain time that it finds the true point at which it can remain at rest."
82
"A man's face as a rule says more, and more interesting things, than his mouth, for it is a compendium of everything his mouth will ever say, in that it is the monogram of all this man's thoughts and aspirations."
83
"Patriotism, when it wants to make itself felt in the domain of learning, is a dirty fellow who should be thrown out of doors."
84
"Martyrdom is the only way a man can become famous without ability."
85
"Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else's head instead of with one's own."
86
"Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point."
87
"The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him."
88
"The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom."
89
"Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people."
90
"Men are by nature merely indifferent to one another; but women are by nature enemies."
91
"A man can be himself only so long as he is alone, and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom, for it is only when he is alone that he is really free."
92
"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."
93
"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."
94
"Satisfaction consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of life."
95
"Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them in: but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents."
96
"Every possession and every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour."
97
"As the biggest library if it is in disorder is not as useful as a small but well-arranged one, so you may accumulate a vast amount of knowledge but it will be of far less value than a much smaller amount if you have not thought it over for yourself."
98
"Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become; and the same is true of fame."
180
"Will power is to the mind like a strong blind man who carries on his shoulders a lame man who can see."
181
"If we were not all so interested in ourselves, life would be so uninteresting that none of us would be able to endure it."
182
"Great minds are related to the brief span of time during which they live as great buildings are to a little square in which they stand: you cannot see them in all their magnitude because you are standing too close to them."
183
"The more a man has in himself, the less he will want from other people."
395
"Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions."
396
"It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else."
397
"Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think."
398