The Wisdom of Life
Schopenhauer explains, in simple language for ordinary readers, the nature of life and how to find happiness in it.
This is the seventh book of Zhou Zuoluo’s second reading club. It leans toward philosophy, and I didn’t finish it.
1. Overview
The Wisdom of Life is a far-from-simple book written in simple language by the German thinker Arthur Schopenhauer. Written for ordinary people, it explains the nature of life and how to find happiness in it. The title alone is appealing enough. As the most intelligent of creatures, all striving as hard as we can to find happiness in life, who wouldn’t be interested in a great thinker’s accessible guide to becoming happy?
2. Favorite Quotes
On philosophy
- Profound philosophy is inevitably permeated with what ordinary people consider pessimism.
- Philosophy is the only Hercules in this world capable of taking on the giants of morality and intellect.
On happiness
- Happiness is not easy: it is very hard to find within ourselves, and impossible to find elsewhere.
- The sources of our happiness lie within ourselves, not outside.
- What a person has within is what matters most for their happiness.
- Health is truly of the first importance to a person’s happiness.
- Correctly assessing our own worth, and how we regard others’ opinions of us, contributes greatly to our happiness.
- Our excessive expectation of happiness ruins everything in this world, and the ruin is proportional to how much we dream.
On life
- “The wisdom of life” here means the art of getting through life as pleasantly and happily as possible.
- Just as everyone is confined to their own skin, everyone is likewise confined to their own consciousness.
- Leisure is the essence of life; apart from it, a person’s whole life is nothing but toil and labor.
- A person’s natural fate is that they must spend their time obtaining what they and their family need to survive.
- The best fortune a person can have is to live a whole life without suffering any great mental or physical pain, rather than to have enjoyed intense pleasures.
Other
- When we leave this world, it will be just as foolish and wicked as we found it when we arrived.
- What kind of world a person lives in depends first on how that person understands the world.
- It is human nature to answer hostility with hostility, and to feel hurt and angry when shown contempt or hatred.
- Whoever will not accept reason must accept the stick.
3. Summary
Every time I read a philosophy book like this, I can’t finish it, and this time was no different: I didn’t get through even half. Books like this also make me drowsy; they’re nowhere near as enjoyable as novels. But they always prompt reflection, pulling me away from everyday trivia for a while to think about the meaning of life. In short, reading is always worthwhile.