Arthur Schopenhauer Quotes
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Our life is a loan received from death with sleep as the daily interest on this loan.
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Man sieht daraus, daß in der Universitäts-philosophie die Wahrheit nur eine sekundäre Stelle einnimmt und, wenn es gefordert wird, aufstehn muß, einer andern Eigenschaft Platz zu machen.
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Newspapers are the second hand of history. This hand, however, is usually not only of inferior metal to the other hands, it also seldom works properly.
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It is only the hope of what is claimed that begets and nurishes the wish.
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The 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.
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You must treat a work of art like a great man: stand before it and wait patiently till it deigns to speak.
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A good supply of resignation is of the first importance in providing for the journey of life.
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Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
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The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost.
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Wicked thoughts and worthless efforts gradually set their mark on the face, especially the eyes.
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We will gradually become indifferent to what goes on in the minds of other people when we acquire a knowledge of the superficial nature of their thoughts, the narrowness of their views and of the number of their errors. Whoever attaches a lot of value to the opinions of others pays them too much honor.
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Night gives a black look to everything, whatever it may be.
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For the world is Hell, and men are on the one hand the tormented souls and on the other the devils in it.
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Music is the melody whose text is the world.
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The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice.
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Whoever heard me assert that the grey cat playing just now in the yard is the same one that did jumps and tricks there five hundred years ago will think whatever he likes of me, but it is a stranger form of madness to imagine that the present-day cat is fundamentally an entirely different one.
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There are two things which make it impossible to believe that this world is the successful work of an all-wise, all-good, and, at the same time, all-powerful Being; firstly, the misery which abounds in it everywhere; and secondly, the obvious imperfection of its highest product, man, who is a burlesque of what he should be.
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We must set limits to our wishes, curb our desires, moderate our anger, always remembering that an individual can attain only an infinitesimal share in anything that is worth having; and that on the other hand, everyone must incur many of the ills of life.
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Music is the answer to the mystery of life. The most profound of all the arts, It expresses the deepest thoughts of life.
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To desire immortality is to desire the eternal perpetuation of a great mistake.
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What disturbs and depresses young people is the hunt for happiness on the firm assumption that it must be met with in life. From this arises constantly deluded hope and so also dissatisfaction. Deceptive images of a vague happiness hover before us in our dreams, and we search in vain for their original. Much would have been gained if, through timely advice and instruction, young people could have had eradicated from their minds the erroneous notion that the world has a great deal to offer them.
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To be alone is the fate of all great minds—a fate deplored at times, but still always chosen as the less grievous of two evils.
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There is more to be learnt from every page of David Hume than from the collected philosophical works of Hegel, Herbart, and Schleiermacher are taken together.
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If there is anything in the world that can really be called a man’s property, it is surely that which is the result of his mental activity.