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Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer Quotes

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Famous Arthur Schopenhauer Quotes

“The auspices for philosophy are bad if, when proceeding ostensibly on the investigation of truth, we start saying farewell to all uprightness, honesty and sincerity, and are intent only on passing ourselves off for what we are not. We then assume, like those three sophists [Fichte, Schelling and Hegel], first a false pathos, then an affected and lofty earnestness, then an air of infinite superiority, in order to impose where we despair of ever being able to convince.”

IfsFirstsPhilosophyAbleOrderThreeAirHonestyDespairInfiniteAssumingPassingPassingsConvinceAffectedSincerityInvestigationSuperiorityFarewellLoftyProceedingPathosEarnestnessHegelSaying FarewellUprightness
Author:Arthur Schopenhauer
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“At the age of five years to enter a spinning-cotton or other factory, and from that time forth to sit there daily, first ten, then twelve, and ultimately fourteen hours, performing the same mechanical labour, is to purchase dearly the satisfaction of drawing breath. But this is the fate of millions, and that of millions more is analogous to it.”

YearsFirstsAgeHoursMillionsFiveFateTenBreathsSatisfactionDrawingPerformingFive YearsLabourFactoriesTwelveSpinningFourteenCotton
Author:Arthur Schopenhauer
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“Two Chinamen visiting Europe went to the theatre for the first time. One of them occupied himself with trying to understand the theatrical machinery, which he succeeded in doing. The other, despite his ignorance of the language, sought to unravel the meaning of the play. The former is like the astronomer, the latter the philosopher.”

TryingFirstsTwoPlayScienceLanguageIgnoranceFirst TimeEuropePhilosophicalPhilosopherTheatreDespiteFormerLatterMachineryVisitingTheatricalAstronomers
Author:Arthur Schopenhauer
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“Animals learn death first at the moment of death;...man approaches death with the knowledge it is closer every hour, and this creates a feeling of uncertainty over his life, even for him who forgets in the business of life that annihilation is awaiting him. It is for this reason chiefly that we have philosophy and religion.”

MenFirstsReasonPhilosophyMomentsFeelingsHoursForgetAnimalApproachUncertaintyAnnihilationPhilosophy And Religion
Author:Arthur Schopenhauer
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“Education perverts the mind since we are directly opposing the natural development of our mind by obtaining ideas first and observations last. This is why so few men of learning have such sound common sense as is quite common among the illiterate.”

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Book:The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer (illustrated)
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“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

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Book:101 Facts of life
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“The best consolation in misfortune or affliction of any kind will be the thought of other people who are in a still worse plight than yourself; and this is a form of consolation open to every one. But what an awful fate this means for mankind as a whole! We are like lambs in a field, disporting themselves under the eye of the butcher, who chooses out first one and then another for his prey.”

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Book:Studies in Pessimism
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“There are, first of all, two kinds of authors: those who write for the subject's sake, and those who write for writing's sake. ... The truth is that when an author begins to write for the sake of covering paper, he is cheating the reader; because he writes under the pretext that he has something to say.”

WritingFirstsKindTwoSubjectsReaderTruth IsPaperSakeCheatingCoveringPretext
Book:The Art of Literature: Top of Schopenhauer
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