Arthur Schopenhauer Quotes And Sayings

Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation, wherein he characterizes the phenomenal world as the product of a blind, insatiable, and malignant metaphysical will. 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 would exert important influence on thinkers and artists throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

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.

Opinion Is Like A Pendulum And Obeys The Same Law. If It Goes Past The Centre 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.

Talent Hits A Target No One Else Can Hit; Genius Hits A Target No One Else Can See.

Religion Is The Masterpiece Of The Art Of Animal Training, For It Trains People As To How They Shall Think.

Every Possession And Every Happiness Is But Lent By Chance For An Uncertain Time, And May Therefore Be Demanded Back The Next Hour.

All Truth Passes Through Three Stages. First, It Is Ridiculed. Second, It Is Violently Opposed. Third, It Is Accepted As Being Self-evident.

Just Remember, Once You're Over The Hill You Begin To Pick Up Speed.

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.

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.

In Action A Great Heart Is The Chief Qualification. In Work, A Great Head.

The First Forty Years Of Life Give Us The Text; The Next Thirty Supply The Commentary On It.

They Tell Us That Suicide Is The Greatest Piece Of Cowardice... That Suicide Is Wrong; When It Is Quite Obvious That There Is Nothing In The World To Which Every Man Has A More Unassailable Title Than To His Own Life And Person.

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.

The More Unintelligent A Man Is, The Less Mysterious Existence Seems To Him.

The Two Enemies Of Human Happiness Are Pain And Boredom.

Politeness Is To Human Nature What Warmth Is To Wax.

Money Is Human Happiness In The Abstract; He, Then, Who Is No Longer Capable Of Enjoying Human Happiness In The Concrete Devotes Himself Utterly To Money.

Great Men Are Like Eagles, And Build Their Nest On Some Lofty Solitude.

To Live Alone Is The Fate Of All Great Souls.

Friends And Acquaintances Are The Surest Passport To Fortune.

Wicked Thoughts And Worthless Efforts Gradually Set Their Mark On The Face, Especially The Eyes.

Obstinacy Is The Result Of The Will Forcing Itself Into The Place Of The Intellect.

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.

Satisfaction Consists In Freedom From Pain, Which Is The Positive Element Of Life.

Patriotism, When It Wants To Make Itself Felt In The Domain Of Learning, Is A Dirty Fellow Who Should Be Thrown Out Of Doors.

Every Person Takes The Limits Of Their Own Field Of Vision For The Limits Of The World.

Sleep Is The Interest We Have To Pay On The Capital Which Is Called In At Death; And The Higher The Rate Of Interest And The More Regularly It Is Paid, The Further The Date Of Redemption Is Postponed.

I've Never Known Any Trouble Than An Hour's Reading Didn't Assuage.

Treat A Work Of Art Like A Prince. Let It Speak To You First.

A Man's Delight In Looking Forward To And Hoping For Some Particular Satisfaction Is A Part Of The Pleasure Flowing Out Of It, Enjoyed In Advance. But This Is Afterward Deducted, For The More We Look Forward To Anything The Less We Enjoy It When It Comes.

It Is With Trifles, And When He Is Off Guard, That A Man Best Reveals His Character.

If We Were Not All So Interested In Ourselves, Life Would Be So Uninteresting That None Of Us Would Be Able To Endure It.

Every Man Takes The Limits Of His Own Field Of Vision For The Limits Of The World.

The Doctor Sees All The Weakness Of Mankind; The Lawyer All The Wickedness, The Theologian All The Stupidity.

The Difficulty Is To Try And Teach The Multitude That Something Can Be True And Untrue At The Same Time.

A Man Can Do What He Wants, But Not Want What He Wants.

To Buy Books Would Be A Good Thing If We Also Could Buy The Time To Read Them.

Wealth Is Like Sea-water; The More We Drink, The Thirstier We Become; And The Same Is True Of Fame.

It Is A Clear Gain To Sacrifice Pleasure In Order To Avoid Pain.

Will Minus Intellect Constitutes Vulgarity.

With People Of Limited Ability Modesty Is Merely Honesty. But With Those Who Possess Great Talent It Is Hypocrisy.

There Is No Absurdity So Palpable But That It May Be Firmly Planted In The Human Head If You Only Begin To Inculcate It Before The Age Of Five, By Constantly Repeating It With An Air Of Great Solemnity.

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.

Martyrdom Is The Only Way A Man Can Become Famous Without Ability.

Newspapers Are The Second Hand Of History. This Hand, However, Is Usually Not Only Of Inferior Metal To The Other Hands, It Also Seldom Works Properly.

Honor Means That A Man Is Not Exceptional; Fame, That He Is. Fame Is Something Which Must Be Won; Honor, Only Something Which Must Not Be Lost.

The Word Of Man Is The Most Durable Of All Material.

Rascals Are Always Sociable, More's The Pity! And The Chief Sign That A Man Has Any Nobility In His Character Is The Little Pleasure He Takes In Others' Company.

In Our Monogamous Part Of The World, To Marry Means To Halve One's Rights And Double One's Duties.

After Your Death You Will Be What You Were Before Your Birth.