Quotes from Arthur Schopenhauer

Puterile lumii sint trei: inetligenta, forta si fericirea.

Behind the cross stands the devil.

Omul ordinar este preocupat sa-si omoare timpul, omul de spirit va sti intotdeauna cum sa si-l intrebuinteze. De aceea, jocul de carti a ajuns ocupatia predilecta in orice societate. Neavind idei de schimbat, oamenii schimba cartea la masa si-si cistiga banii unii altora. Cei care nu stiu nici atit, sau sint de-a dreptul prosti, bat darabana cu degetele-n masa. Tigarea inlocuieste, de asemenea, gindirea, atunci cind nu are ce stimula.

La solitude offre à l'homme intellectuellement haut placé un double avantage : le premier, d'être avec soi-même, et le second de n'être pas avec les autres.

We seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack.

If you try to imagine as nearly as you can what an amount of misery, pain, and suffering of every kind the sun shines upon in its course, you will admit that it would be much better if on the earth as little as on the moon the sun were able to call forth the phenomena of life; and if, here as there, the surface were still in a crystalline state.

Beauty is an open letter of recommendation that wins hearts for us in advance.

To measure a man's happiness only by what he gets, and not also by what he expects to get, is as futile as to try and express a fraction which shall have a numerator but no denominator.

A human being does at all times only what he wills, and yet does it necessarily. But that rests on the fact that he is what he wills : for out of what he is everything that he does at any time follows necessarily.

The cheapest kind of pride, on the other hand, is national pride. For it betrays in those affected by it the lack of individual qualities of which they could be proud, since they would otherwise not grasp at something that they share with so many millions. Rather those who possess significant personal qualities will recognize most clearly the faults of their own nation, since they constantly have them in front of them.

empat puluh tahun usia pertama kita dihabiskan dengan menulis ratusan bahkan ribuan halaman buku teks, yang akan dibaca kelak di sisa usia.

If now the all-mother sends forth her children without protection to a thousand threatening dangers, this can only be because she knows that if they fall they fall back into her womb, where they are safe; therefore their fall is a mere jest.

Tutti prendono i limiti della loro visione per i limiti del mondo.

Our life is to be regarded as a loan received from death, with sleep as the daily interest on this loan.

The nobler and more perfect a thing is, the later and more slowly does it mature.

Consideration of the kind, touched on above, might, indeed, lead us to embrace the belief that 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.

No man becomes this or that by wishing to be it, however earnestly.

Exaggeration in every sense is as essential to newspaper writing as it is to the writing of plays: for the point is to make as much as possible of every occurrence. So that all newspaper writers are, for the sake of their trade, alarmists: this is their way of making themselves interesting.

what every one most aims at in ordinary contact with his fellows is to prove them inferior to himself ...

And, as a general rule, it is more advisable to show your intelligence by saying nothing than by speaking out; for silence is a matter of prudence whilst speech has something in it of vanity

Aristotle's example is as follows: A Moor is black; but in regard to his teeth he is white; therefore, he is black and not black at the same moment.

The mind is by its nature free, not a slave; only what it does by itself and willingly is successful.

the ancient wisdom of the Indian philosophers declares, "It is Mâyâ, the veil of deception, which blinds the eyes of mortals, and makes them behold a world of which they cannot say either that it is or that it is not: for it is like a dream; it is like the sunshine on the sand which the traveller takes from afar for water, or the stray piece of rope he mistakes for a snake.

What people commonly call fate is mostly their own stupidity.