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Arthur Schopenhauer Quotes

98 Famous Quotes By Arthur Schopenhauer That Will Make You Appreciate Life A Lot More

Famous As: German Philosopher Best Known for His Work ‘The World as Will and Representation’

Born On: 1788

Died On: 1860

Born In: Gdańsk, Poland

Died At Age: 72

German philosopher and mathematician, Arthur Schopenhauer rose to prominence in the 19th century and is regarded as one of the most in-fluential philosophers of the modern world. He was born in a rich and aristocratic family and received a first class education before embarking on a career in philosophy and before long he became one of the most influential voices in Europe. In 1818, Schopenhauer published his most famous philosophical book titled ‘The World as Will and Representation’ and according to many, it ushered in a new era in philosophy following the era of Kant. His school of philosophy can best be described as being pessimistic and drew the picture of a world that might not be as rosy as people might claim. Later experts have termed it as philosophical pessimism. Schopenhauer’s theories on philosophy did not only open up a new chapter in the subject but also influenced some of the intellectual giants like Leo Tolstoy, Gustav Mahler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jorge Luis Borges, Carl Jung and many others. Schopenhauer by all accounts was one of the biggest intellectuals to have ever lived and as such it is not a surprise that he has given a great amount of brilliant quotes. Here are a few.

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Philosophers

Intellectuals & Academics

Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Compassion is the basis of morality.
Arthur Schopenhauer

All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; Third, it is accepted as self-evident.
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.

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.
Love Alone Will
Arthur Schopenhauer

Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things.

Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Happiness consists in frequent repetition of pleasure

Happiness consists in frequent repetition of pleasure
Happiness
Arthur Schopenhauer

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.

Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.
Character
Arthur Schopenhauer

The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.

The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.
Arthur Schopenhauer

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.
Happiness
Arthur Schopenhauer

... that when you're buying books, you're optimistically thinking you're buying the time to read them.
(Paraphrase of Schopenhauer)

... that when you're buying books, you're optimistically thinking you're buying the time to read them. (Paraphrase of Schopenhauer)
Time Books
Arthur Schopenhauer

One should use common words to say uncommon things

One should use common words to say uncommon things
Arthur Schopenhauer

We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.

We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.
Like
Arthur Schopenhauer

A sense of humour is the only divine quality of man

A sense of humour is the only divine quality of man
Arthur Schopenhauer

Treat a work of art like a prince: let it speak to you first.

Treat a work of art like a prince: let it speak to you first.
You Like Art
Arthur Schopenhauer

Thus, the task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to think what nobody yet has thought about that which everybody sees.

Thus, the task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to think what nobody yet has thought about that which everybody sees.
Think
Arthur Schopenhauer

A high degree of intellect tends to make a man unsocial.

A high degree of intellect tends to make a man unsocial.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude

Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude
Like
Arthur Schopenhauer

Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think.

Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think.
Think Art
Arthur Schopenhauer

Life is a constant process of dying.
Life
Arthur Schopenhauer

Hope is the confusion of the desire for a thing with its probability.

Hope is the confusion of the desire for a thing with its probability.
Hope
Arthur Schopenhauer

No rose without a thorn but many a thorn without a rose.

No rose without a thorn but many a thorn without a rose.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Marrying means to halve one's rights and double one's duties

Marrying means to halve one's rights and double one's duties
Arthur Schopenhauer

I have not yet spoken my last word about women. I believe that if a woman succeeds in withdrawing from the mass, or rather raising herself from above the mass, she grows ceaselessly and more than a man.

I have not yet spoken my last word about women. I believe that if a woman succeeds in withdrawing from the mass, or rather raising herself from above the mass, she grows ceaselessly and more than a man.
Women Believe I
Arthur Schopenhauer

We can regard our life as a uselessly disturbing episode in the blissful repose of nothingness.

We can regard our life as a uselessly disturbing episode in the blissful repose of nothingness.
Life
Arthur Schopenhauer

Every parting gives a foretaste of death, every reunion a hint of the resurrection.

Every parting gives a foretaste of death, every reunion a hint of the resurrection.
Death
Arthur Schopenhauer

If I maintain my silence about my secret it is my prisoner...if I let it slip from my tongue, I am ITS prisoner.

If I maintain my silence about my secret it is my prisoner...if I let it slip from my tongue, I am ITS prisoner.
I
Arthur Schopenhauer

The shortness of life, so often lamented, may be the best thing about it.

The shortness of life, so often lamented, may be the best thing about it.
Life
Arthur Schopenhauer

The world is my idea
Arthur Schopenhauer

Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them; but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.

Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them; but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.
Time Books
Arthur Schopenhauer