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Arthur Schopenhauer Quotes - Page 5

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Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.

Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Philosophical, Liberty, Libertarian

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
Life, Good Morning, Death
Arthur Schopenhauer (2012). “Collected Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer”, p.32, Simon and Schuster

No greater mistake can be made than to imagine that what has been written latest is always the more correct; that what is written later on is an improvement on what was written previously; and that every change means progress.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Mistake, Mean, Progress
Arthur Schopenhauer (2015). “Essays of Schopenhauer: Top Essays”, p.17, 谷月社

This world could not have been the work of an all-loving being, but that of a devil, who had brought creatures into existence in order to delight in the sight of their sufferings.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Sight, Order, Suffering

Vulgar people take huge delight in the faults and follies of great men.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Men, Greatness, People
Arthur Schopenhauer (2013). “The Art of Controversy”, p.57, Simon and Schuster

Patriotism is the passion of fools and the most foolish of passions.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Passion, Fool, Foolish

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 . . .

Arthur Schopenhauer
Mistake, Simple, Men
Arthur Schopenhauer (2004). “On the Suffering of the World”, p.22, Penguin UK

Our moral virtues benefit mainly other people; intellectual virtues, on the other hand, benefit primarily ourselves; therefore the former make us universally popular, the latter unpopular.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Hands, People, Intellectual
Arthur Schopenhauer, E. F. J. Payne (1974). “Parerga and Paralipomena: Short Philosophical Essays”, p.341, Oxford University Press

There is not a grain of dust, not an atom that can become nothing, yet man believes that death is the annhilation of his being.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Death, Believe, Men

Men best show their character in trifles, where they are not on their guard. It is 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
Inspirational, Character, Men

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
Sight, Watches, Letters

Students and scholars of all kinds and of every age aim, as a rule, only at information, not insight. They make it a point of honour to have information about everything, every stone, plant, battle, or experiment and about all books, collectively and individually. It never occurs to them that information is merely a means to insight, but in itself is of little or no value.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Book, Mean, Age
Arthur Schopenhauer, E. F. J. Payne (1974). “Parerga and Paralipomena: Short Philosophical Essays”, p.479, Oxford University Press

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.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Art, Book, Reading
Arthur Schopenhauer (2016). “101 Facts of life”, p.23, Publishdrive

What disturbs and depresses young people is the hunt for happiness on the firm assumption that it must be met with in life. From this arises constantly deluded hope and so also dissatisfaction. Deceptive images of a vague happiness hover before us in our dreams, and we search in vain for their original. Much would have been gained if, through timely advice and instruction, young people could have had eradicated from their minds the erroneous notion that the world has a great deal to offer them.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Dream, Depressing, People
Arthur Schopenhauer (2016). “101 Facts of life”, p.31, Publishdrive

Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Positive, Philosophical, Entrepreneur
Arthur Schopenhauer (2007). “Parerga and Paralipomena: A Collection of Philosophical Essays”, Cosimo, Inc.

The reason domestic pets are so lovable and so helpful to us is because they enjoy, quietly and placidly, the present moment.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Cat, Pet, Helpful

There is only one inborn error. and that is the notion that we exist in order to be happy.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Happiness, Errors, Order
1844 DieWelt alsWille undVorstellung (TheWorld asWill and Representation), vol.2, ch.49 (translated by E F J Payne).

Materialism is the philosophy of the subject who forgets to take account of himself.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Philosophy, Forget, Materialism
Arthur Schopenhauer (2012). “The World as Will and Representation”, p.13, Courier Corporation

One should use common words to say uncommon things

Arthur Schopenhauer
Writing, Use, Common
Arthur Schopenhauer (2016). “The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer (illustrated)”, p.30, Full Moon Publications

What people commonly call Fate is, as a general rule, nothing but their own stupid and foolish conduct.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Stupid, Fate, People
Arthur Schopenhauer (2007). “Parerga and Paralipomena: A Collection of Philosophical Essays”, Cosimo, Inc.

There is in the world only the choice between loneliness and vulgarity. All young people should be taught now to put up with loneliness ... because the less man is compelled to come into contact with others, the better off he is.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Loneliness, Men, People

The young should early be trained to bear being left alone; for it is a source of happiness and peace of mind.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Solitude, Mind, Bears
Arthur Schopenhauer (2012). “Collected Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer”, p.20, Simon and Schuster

Pantheism is only a polite form of atheism.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Atheism, Pantheism, Form

There is only one inborn erroneous notion ... that we exist in order to be happy ... So long as we persist in this inborn error ... the world seems to us full of contradictions. For at every step, in great things and small, we are bound to experience that the world and life are certainly not arranged for the purpose of maintaining a happy existence ... hence the countenances of almost all elderly persons wear the expression of ... disappointment.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Disappointment, Errors, Elderly
"The World as Will and Representation" by Arthur Schopenhauer, Vol. II, (1819; 1844; 1859).

The greatest wisdom is to make the enjoyment of the present the supreme object of life; because that is the only reality, all else being merely the play of thought. On the other hand, such a course might just as well be called the greatest folly: for that which in the next moment exists no more, and vanishes utterly, like a dream, can never be worth a serious effort.

Arthur Schopenhauer
Dream, Reality, Hands
Arthur Schopenhauer (2012). “Collected Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer”, p.225, Simon and Schuster

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