Arthur Schopenhauer

As a general rule, the longer a man's fame is likely to last, the later it will be in coming; for all excellent products require time for their development.

Will minus intellect constitutes vulgarity.

In the sphere of thought, absurdity and perversity remain the masters of the world, and their dominion is suspended only for brief periods.

Sleep is the interest we have to pay on the capital which is called in at death; and the higher the rate of interest and the more regularly it is paid, the further the date of redemption is postponed.

Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.

Every possession and every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour.

To find out your real opinion of someone, judge the impression you have when you first see a letter from them.

Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else's head instead of with one's own.

Wicked thoughts and worthless efforts gradually set their mark on the face, especially the eyes.

Honor means that a man is not exceptional; fame, that he is. Fame is something which must be won; honor, only something which must not be lost.

Money is human happiness in the abstract; he, then, who is no longer capable of enjoying human happiness in the concrete devotes himself utterly to money.

The greatest of follies is to sacrifice health for any other kind of happiness.

The wise have always said the same things, and fools, who are the majority have always done just the opposite.

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone.

Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.

This world could not have been the work of an all-loving being, but that of a devil, who had brought creatures into existence in order to delight in the sight of their sufferings.

The general history of art and literature shows that the highest achievements of the human mind are, as a rule, not favourably received at first.

Talent works for money and fame; the motive which moves genius to productivity is, on the other hand, less easy to determine.

True brevity of expression consists in a man only saying what is worth saying, while avoiding all diffuse explanations of things which every one can think out for himself.

In truth the most striking figure for the relation of the two is that of the strong blind man carrying the sighted lame man on his shoulders.

Every state of welfare, every feeling of satisfaction, is negative in its character; that is to say, it consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of existence.