Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860) was a German philosopher who was born in the city of Danzig. He is best known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation, which he expanded in 1844. He was often referred to as “the philosopher of pessimism,” although the focus of his work was on finding a way to find to overcome the fundamentally painful human condition. Schopenhauer was among the first thinkers in Western philosophy to share and affirm significant tenets of Eastern philosophy, having initially arrived at similar conclusions as the result of his own philosophical work. His writing on aesthetics, morality, and psychology have influenced thinkers and artists throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Quotes by Arthur Schopenhauer…
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. Restraint is always present in society, like a companion of whom there is no riddance, and in proportion to the greatness of a man’s individuality, it will be hard for him to bear the sacrifices which all contact with others demands.
Hardly one in ten thousand will have the strength of mind to ask himself seriously and earnestly, “Is that true?”
It is difficult to keep quiet if you have nothing to do.
It is only after a man has rid himself of all pretence, and taken refuge in mere unembellished existence, that he is able to attain that peace of mind which is the foundation of human happiness.
It is only through the morning gate of the beautiful that you can penetrate into the realm of knowledge. That which we feel here as beauty, we shall one day know as truth.
Peace of mind! That is something essential to any enjoyment of the present moment, and unless its separate moments are enjoyed, there is an end to life’s happiness as a whole. We should always recollect that today comes only once, and never returns. We fancy that it will come again tomorrow, but tomorrow is another day, which, in its turn, comes only once.
A man shows his character just in the way in which he deals with trifles — for then he is off his guard. This will often afford a good opportunity of observing the boundless egoism of a man’s nature, and his total lack of consideration for others; and if these defects show themselves in small things, or merely in his general manner, you will find that they also underlie his action in matters of importance, and although he may disguise the fact… Do not trust him beyond your door.
If you want your judgement to be accepted, express it coolly and without passion. All violence has its origin in the will, and so, if your judgement is expressed with vehemence, people will consider it an effort of will, and not the outcome of knowledge, which is in its nature calm and unemotional.
Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.
Mental superiority of any kind always tends to isolate its possessor; people run away from him out of pure hatred, and say all manner of bad things about him by way of justifying their actions.