The Wisdom of Life
Arthur Schopenhauer, Thomas Bailey Saunders
5 mins
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The Wisdom Of Life is an essay from Arthur Schopenhauer's last published work, which breaks down happiness into three parts and explains how we can achieve it.
The Wisdom of Life
The Wisdom of Life
by Arthur Schopenhauer
Overview
Known as one of Friedrich Nietzsche's biggest influences, Arthur Schopenhauer was a rather pessimistic and gloomy fellow, albeit one with an excellent sense of humor. This German philosopher, who lived from 1788 to 1860, was most famous for coining the concept of 'the Will-to-Life'. Prefiguring our understanding of evolutionary drive, Schopenhauer saw our desire to reproduce as driving most of our behavior — for better or for worse. The Wisdom Of Life is one of two essays from Schopenhauer's final work, Parerga und Paralipomena, published in 1851. Breaking down human nature into three parts, the essay seeks to establish a simple and concrete model of happiness.
Favorite quote
For the more a man has in himself, the less he will want from other people, — the less, indeed, other people can be to him. This is why a high degree of intellect tends to make a man unsocial.
- Arthur Schopenhauer
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