Philosophy ... is a science, and as such has no articles of faith; accordingly, in it nothing can be assumed as existing except what is either positively given empirically, or demonstrated through indubitable conclusions.
Arthur SchopenhauerI owe what is best in my own development to the impression made by Kant's works, the sacred writings of the Hindus, and Plato.
Arthur SchopenhauerEvery state of welfare, every feeling of satisfaction, is negative in its character; that is to say, it consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of existence.
Arthur SchopenhauerHe who writes carelessly confesses thereby at the very outset that he does not attach much importance to his own thoughts.
Arthur SchopenhauerThere 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