Arthur Schopenhauer, Ph.D., German Philosopher, Atheist

No: it is impossible to solve the metaphysical puzzle, to discover the secret essence of reality, by examining matter first, and then proceeding to examine thought: we must begin with that which we know directly and intimately—ourselves. “We can never arrive at the real nature of things from without. However much we may investigate, we can never reach anything but images and names. We are like a man who goes round a castle seeking in vain for an entrance, and sometimes sketching the facades.” Let us enter within. If we can ferret out the ultimate nature of our own minds we shall perhaps have the key to the external world.

Arthur Schopenhauer, Ph.D., German Philosopher, Atheist

In the ordinary man, injustice rouses a passionate desire for vengeance; . . . where there is a great deal of pride and vanity, there also will there be a great desire of vengeance.

Arthur Schopenhauer, Ph.D., German Philosopher, Atheist

Hope is the result of confusing the desire that something should take place with the probability that it will.

Arthur Schopenhauer, Ph.D., German Philosopher, Atheist

Ignorance is degrading only when found in company with riches. The poor man is restrained by poverty and need: labor occupies his thoughts, and takes the place of knowledge. But rich men who are ignorant live for their lusts only, and are like the beasts of the field; as may be seen every day: and they can also be reproached for not having used wealth and leisure for that which gives them their greatest value.

Arthur Schopenhauer, Ph.D., German Philosopher, Atheist

The wise man will, above all, strive after freedom from pain and annoyance, quiet and leisure, consequently a tranquil, modest life, with as few encounters as may be; and so, after a little experience of his so-called fellow-men, he will elect to live in retirement, or even, if he is a man of great intellect, in solitude. 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, Ph.D., German Philosopher, Atheist

A large endowment of intellect tends to estrange the man who has it from other people and their doings; for the more a man has in himself, the less he will be able to find in them; and the hundred things in which they take delight, he will think shallow and insipid.