Consciousness is the mere surface of our minds, of which, as of the earth, we do not know the inside, but only the crust.
Arthur SchopenhauerMost men are so thoroughly subjective that nothing really interests them but themselves.
Arthur SchopenhauerEmpirical sciences prosecuted purely for their own sake, and without philosophic tendency are like a face without eyes.
Arthur SchopenhauerIf a man sets out to hate all the miserable creatures he meets, he will not have much energy left for anything else; whereas he can despise them, one and all, with the greatest ease.
Arthur SchopenhauerThe inexpressible depth of music, so easy to understand and yet so inexplicable, is due to the fact that it reproduces all the emotions of our innermost being, but entirely without reality and remote from its pain… Music expresses only the quintessence of life and its events, never these themselves.
Arthur SchopenhauerTalent works for money and fame; the motive which moves genius to productivity is, on the other hand, less easy to determine.
Arthur SchopenhauerTo buy books would be a good thing if we could also buy the time to read them; but the purchase of books is often mistaken for the assimilation and mastering of their contents.
Arthur SchopenhauerEvery miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.
Arthur SchopenhauerIf people insist that honor is dearer than life itself, what they really mean is that existence and well-being are as nothing compared with other people's opinions. Of course, this may be only an exaggerated way of stating the prosaic truth that reputation, that is, the opinion others have of us, is indispensable if we are to make any progress in the world.
Arthur SchopenhauerIn many cases hate a person is rooted in the involuntary estimate of its virtues.
Arthur Schopenhauer...in the end every one stands alone, and the important thing is who it is that stands alone.
Arthur SchopenhauerWhat now on the other hand makes people sociable is their incapacity to endure solitude and thus themselves.
Arthur SchopenhauerIt is only in the microscope that our life looks so big. It is an indivisible point, drawn out and magnified by the powerful lenses of Time and Space.
Arthur SchopenhauerIn order to increase his pleasures, man has intentionally added to the number and pressure of his needs, which in their original state were not much more difficult to satisfy than those of the brute. Hence luxury in all its forms; delicate food, the use of tobacco and opium, spirituous liquors, fine clothes, and the thousand and one things that he considers necessary to his existence.
Arthur SchopenhauerNature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.
Arthur SchopenhauerI believe that when death closes our eyes we shall awaken to a light, of which our sunlight is but the shadow.
Arthur SchopenhauerTalent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
Arthur SchopenhauerOne man is more concerned with the impression he makes on the rest of mankind, another with the impression the rest of mankind makes on him.
Arthur SchopenhauerThere is in the world only the choice between loneliness and vulgarity. All young people should be taught now to put up with loneliness ... because the less man is compelled to come into contact with others, the better off he is.
Arthur SchopenhauerThe real meaning of persona is a mask, such as actors were accustomed to wear on the ancient stage; and it is quite true that no one shows himself as he is, but wears his mask and plays his part. Indeed, the whole of our social arrangements may be likened to a perpetual comedy; and this is why a man who is worth anything finds society so insipid, while a blockhead is quite at home in it.
Arthur SchopenhauerThe first rule for a good style is to have something to say; in fact, this in itself is almost enough.
Arthur SchopenhauerNoise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but also a disruption of thought.
Arthur SchopenhauerHow entirely does the Upanishad breathe throughout the holy spirit of the Vedas! How is every one who by a diligent study of its Persian Latin has become familiar with that incomparable book stirred by that spirit to the very depth of his Soul !
Arthur SchopenhauerIn their hearts women think that it is men's business to earn money and theirs to spend it.
Arthur Schopenhauer(Politeness is) a tacit agreement that people's miserable defects, whether moral or intellectual, shall on either side be ignored and not be made the subject of reproach.
Arthur SchopenhauerWe can regard our life as a uselessly disturbing episode in the blissful repose of nothingness.
Arthur SchopenhauerFor the purpose of acquiring gain, everything else is pushed aside or thrown overboard, for example, as is philosophy by the professors of philosophy.
Arthur SchopenhauerThe man who goes up in a balloon does not feel as if he were ascending; he only sees the earth sinking deeper below him.
Arthur SchopenhauerOur religions will never at any time take root; the ancient wisdom of the human race will not be supplanted by the events in Galilee. On the contrary, Indian wisdom flows back to Europe, and will produce a fundamental change in our knowledge and thought.
Arthur SchopenhauerHow is it possible that suffering that is neither my own nor of my concern should immediately affect me as though it were my own, and with such force that is moves me to action?
Arthur SchopenhauerPride works _from within_; it is the direct appreciation of oneself. Vanity is the desire to arrive at this appreciation indirectly, from without.
Arthur SchopenhauerThere is only one inborn error. and that is the notion that we exist in order to be happy.
Arthur SchopenhauerThe doctor sees all the weakness of mankind; the lawyer all the wickedness, the theologian all the stupidity.
Arthur SchopenhauerPhilosophy ... 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 SchopenhauerReading is merely a surrogate for thinking for yourself; it means letting someone else direct your thoughts.
Arthur Schopenhauer