Arthur Schopenhauer quotes - page 12

Dogma is intended for, and suited to, the great mass of the human race; and as such it can contain merely allegorical truth that it nevertheless has to pass off as truth sensu proprio [in the proper sense]. (Arthur Schopenhauer)
In general admittedly the Wise of all times have always said the same thing, and the fools, that is to say the vast majority of all times, have always done the same thing, i.e. the opposite; and so it will remain in the future. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
The Philistine ... is a man without intellectual needs. Now it follows from this that, as regards himself, he is left without any intellectual pleasures in accordance with the principle, il n'est pas de vrais plaisirs qu'avec de vrais besoins. [There are no true pleasures without true needs.]. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
The purpose of his [the Philistine's] life is to procure for himself everything that contributes to bodily welfare. He is happy enough when this causes him a lot of trouble. For if those good things are heaped on him in advance, he will inevitably lapse into boredom. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Dancing, the theatre, society, card-playing, games of chance, horses, women, drinking, traveling, and so on ... are not enough to ward off boredom where intellectual pleasures are rendered impossible by lack of intellectual needs. Thus a peculiar characteristic of the Philistine is a dull, dry seriousness akin to that of animals. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
I've never know any trouble than an hour's reading didn't assuage. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
According to me, the influence of Sanskrit literature on our time will not be lesser than what was in the 16th century Greece's influence on Renaissance. One day, India's wisdom will flow again on Europe and will totally transform our knowledge and thought. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Do not shorten the morning by getting up late, or waste it in unworthy occupations or in talk; look upon it as the quintessence of life, as to a certain extent sacred. Evening is like old age: we are languid, talkative, silly. Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
A man can be himself only so long as he is alone. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arise from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost. (Arthur Schopenhauer)
The present is the only reality and the only certainty. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Scoundrels are always sociable. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Suicide may also be regarded as an experiment - a question which man puts to Nature, trying to force her to answer. The question is this: What change will death produce in a man's existence and in his insight into the nature of things? It is a clumsy experiment to make; for it involves the destruction of the very consciousness which puts the question and awaits the answer. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Time is that in which all things pass away. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Every generation, no matter how paltry its character, thinks itself much wiser than the one immediately preceding it, let alone those that are more remote. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Our first ideas of life are generally taken from fiction rather than fact. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
To forgive and forget means to throw away dearly bought experience. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Style is what gives value and currency to thoughts. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
I am often surprised by the cleverness, and now and again by the stupidity of my dog and I have similar experiences with mankind. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
In early youth, as we contemplate our coming life, we are like children in a theatre before the curtain is raised, sitting there in high spirits and eagerly waiting for the play to begin. It is a blessing that we do not know what is really going to happen. Could we foresee it, there are times when children might seem like innocent prisoners, condemned, not to death, but to life, and as yet all unconscious of what their sentence means. (Arthur Schopenhauer)
When a man has reached a condition in which he believes that a thing must happen because he does not wish it, and that what he wishes to happen never will be, this is really the state called desperation. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
No one can transcend their own individuality. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Necessity is the constant scourge of the lower classes, ennui of the higher ones. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer
Religion is the metaphysics of the masses. View quote
Arthur Schopenhauer