In reading, the mind is, in fact, only the playground of another's thoughts. Arthur Schopenhauer More Quotes by Arthur Schopenhauer More Quotes From Arthur Schopenhauer Education perverts the mind since we are directly opposing the natural development of our mind by obtaining ideas first and observations last. This is why so few men of learning have such sound common sense as is quite common among the illiterate. Arthur Schopenhauer common-sensemenideas Suffering by nature or chance never seems so painful as suffering inflicted on us by the arbitrary will of another. Arthur Schopenhauer world-sufferingpaindepression Apart from man, no being wonders at its own experience. Arthur Schopenhauer wondermen Reading is merely a surrogate for thinking for yourself; it means letting someone else direct your thoughts. Arthur Schopenhauer readingmeanthinking NOT to my contemporaries, not to my compatriots but to mankind I commit my now completed work in the confidence that it will not be without value for them, even if this should be late recognised, as is commonly the lot of what is good. For it cannot have been for the passing generation, engrossed with the delusion of the moment, that my mind, almost against my will, has uninterruptedly stuck to its work through the course of a long life. preface to the second edition of "the world as will and representation Arthur Schopenhauer generationsmindlong Rascals are always sociable, more's the pity! and the chief sign that a man has any nobility in his character is the little pleasure he takes in others' company. Arthur Schopenhauer littlescharactermen The 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 Schopenhauer earthdoemen Reading is merely a surrogate for thinking for yourself; it means letting someone else direct your thoughts. Many books, moreover, serve merely to show how many ways there are of being wrong, and how far astray you yourself would go if you followed their guidance. You should read only when your own thoughts dry up, which will of course happen frequently enough even to the best heads; but to banish your own thoughts so as to take up a book is a sin against the holy ghost; it is like deserting untrammeled nature to look at a herbarium or engravings of landscapes. Arthur Schopenhauer readingmeanbook ... that when you're buying books, you're optimistically thinking you're buying the time to read them. (Paraphrase of Schopenhauer) Arthur Schopenhauer buyingbookthinking The weakness of their reasoning faculty also explains why women show more sympathy for the unfortunate than men;... and why, on the contrary, they are inferior to men as regards justice, and less honourable and conscientious. Arthur Schopenhauer womenweaknessjustice Pantheism is only a polite form of atheism. Arthur Schopenhauer pantheismatheismform History is the long, difficult and confused dream of Mankind. Arthur Schopenhauer confuseddreamlong We can come to look upon the deaths of our enemies with as much regret as we feel for those of our friends, namely, when we miss their existence as witnesses to our success. Arthur Schopenhauer regretmissingenemy The fundament upon which all our knowledge and learning rests is the inexplicable. Arthur Schopenhauer inexplicablepessimismmystery Just as the witticism brings two very different real objects under one concept, the pun brings two different concepts, by the assistance of accident, under one word. Arthur Schopenhauer differentrealtwo The auspices for philosophy are bad if, when proceeding ostensibly on the investigation of truth, we start saying farewell to all uprightness, honesty and sincerity, and are intent only on passing ourselves off for what we are not. We then assume, like those three sophists [Fichte, Schelling and Hegel], first a false pathos, then an affected and lofty earnestness, then an air of infinite superiority, in order to impose where we despair of ever being able to convince. Arthur Schopenhauer honestyfarewellphilosophy 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. Arthur Schopenhauer second-chancehistoryhands To free a person from error is to give, and not to take away. Arthur Schopenhauer philosophicallearningteaching Writers may be classified as meteors, planets, and fixed stars. Arthur Schopenhauer meteorsstarsmay It is only a man's own fundamental thoughts that have truth and life in them. For it is these that he really and completely understands. To read the thoughts of others is like taking the remains of someone else's meal, like putting on the discarded clothes of a stranger. Arthur Schopenhauer confidenceclothesmen
