Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) was a German philosopher and essayist. He is one of the most prominent figures in the history of philosophy. He emphasized the primacy of the will over both reason and sensation. He was greatly influenced by Indian philosophical thought, which he held was consistent with Immanuel Kant’s philosophy in every significant respect.
Schopenhauer’s pessimistic philosophy is based on studies of Kant, Plato, and the Hindu Upaniṣads. In his principal work, Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung (1819; The World as Will and Idea, 1883,) he contended that the will (self-consciousness in man and the unconscious forces of nature) is the only reality and that the material world is but an illusion (“idea” or “representation”) created by the will.
Schopenhauer was one of the first Western thinkers to take Indian philosophical thought seriously. Admiring the Hindu and Buddhist philosophies of forbearance and resignation, he maintained that happiness is achieved only by renouncing the will (as desired.) Asceticism and purity are the obligations of humankind to terminate the evil. Egoism, which expresses itself principally as ‘the will to live,’ must be conquered.
Schopenhauer also published Ü ber den Willen in der Natur (On the Will in Nature, 1836,) on how his philosophy was consistent with the sciences, and Die Beiden Grundprobleme der Ethik (The Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics, 1841.)
Schopenhauer’s philosophy influenced many intellectuals, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Richard Wagner, Leo Tolstoy, and Jorge Luis Borges.
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Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become; and the same is true of fame.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Greed, Money
Men best show their character in trifles, where they are not on their guard.—It is in insignificant matters, and in the simplest habits, that we often see the boundless egotism which pays no regard to the feelings of others, and denies nothing to itself.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Character
What a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has, or how he is regarded by others.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Hatred comes from the heart; contempt from the head; and neither feeling is quite within our control.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else’s head instead of with one’s own.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Thinking, Reading, Books, Literature
Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
No one can transcend their own individuality.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Individuality
If there is anything in the world that can really be called a mans property, it is surely that which is the result of his mental activity.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Genius is an intellect that has become unfaithful to its destiny.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Genius
The happiness of any given life is to be measured not by its joys and pleasures, but by the extent to which it has been free from suffering, from positive evil.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Blessings
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
Topics: Age, Truth
According to me, the influence of Sanskrit literature will not be lesser than what was, in the 16th century, Greece’s influence on Renaissance. One day, India’s wisdom will flow again on Europe and will totally transform our knowledge and thought.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
With people with only modest ability, modesty is mere honesty; but with those who possess great talent, it is hypocrisy.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Talent, People, Love, Humility, Hypocrisy
We seldom think of what we have,
but always of what we lack.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Perspective, Vision, Dreams, Philosophy
The wise have always said the same things, and fools, who are the majority have always done just the opposite.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Wisdom
Wicked thoughts and worthless efforts gradually set their mark on the face, especially the eyes.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Every parting gives a foretaste of death; every coming together again a foretaste of the resurrection.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Last Words, Death
Hatred is an affair of the heart; contempt that of the head.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Life is a language in which certain truths are conveyed to us; if we could learn them in some other way, we should not live.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
It is a great piece of folly to sacrifice the inner for the outer man.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Time Management
In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life—it will be the solace of my death.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Money is human happiness in the abstract; and so the man who is no longer capable of enjoying such happiness in the concrete, sets his whole heart on money.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Success, Happiness, Money
Men of learning are those who have read the contents of books. Thinkers, geniuses, and those who have enlightened the world and furthered the race of men, are those who have made direct use of the book of the world.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Friends and acquaintances are the surest passport to fortune.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Topics: Friendship
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