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 SchopenhauerRead
The Universe is a dream dreamed by a single dreamer where all the dream characters dream too.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that reality is a collective illusion experienced by all beings, originating from a singular consciousness.
Arthur Schopenhauer's quote presents a philosophical perspective where the entirety of the universe and existence is likened to a dream. In this metaphor, the 'single dreamer' symbolizes a fundamental consciousness or source from which all beings emerge as 'dream characters', each of whom experiences their own individual reality. This illustrates the interconnectedness of all existence and the subjective nature of reality, inviting contemplation about the nature of consciousness and perception.
Themes
UniverseDreamConsciousnessRealityIllusion
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophy class discussing the nature of reality.
More from Arthur Schopenhauer
All quotes βTo be shocked at how deeply rejection hurts is to ignore what acceptance involves. We must never allow our suffering to be compounded by suggestions that there is something odd in suffering so deeply. There would be something amiss if we didn't.
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Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people.
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Life is full of troubles and vexations, that one must either rise above it by means of corrected thoughts, or leave it.
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Our religions will never at any time take root; the ancient wisdom of the human race will not be supplanted by the events in Galilee. On the contrary, Indian wisdom flows back to Europe, and will produce a fundamental change in our knowledge and thought.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
We will gradually become indifferent to what goes on in the minds of other people when we acquire a knowledge of the superficial nature of their thoughts, the narrowness of their views and of the number of their errors. Whoever attaches a lot of value to the opinions of others pays them too much honor.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
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In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die: Ever drifting down the stream- Lingering in the golden gleam- Life, what is it but a dream?
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Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together ... Speech is too often ... the act of quite stifling and suspending thought, so that there is none to conceal ... Speech is of Time, silence is of Eternity ... It is idle to think that, by means of words, any real communication can ever pass from one man to another.
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We are often indifferent to our brethren who are distressed or upset, on the grounds that they are in this state through no fault of ours. The Doctor of souls, however, wishing to root out the soul's excuses from the heart, tells us to leave our gift and to be reconciled not only if we happen to be upset by our brother, but also if he is upset by us, whether justly or unjustly; only when we have healed the breach through our apology should we offer our gift.
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Zen, in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom. By making us drink right from the fountain of life it liberates us from all the yokes under which we finite beings are usually suffering in this world.
D.T. SuzukiRead
The human brain cannot encompass total absence. Like infinity, it is simply not something that the organ runs to. The space someone leaves must be filled, so we dream forever of those who are no longer here. Our minds make them live again.
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The greatest human ideal is the great cause of bringing together the thoughts of Europe and Asia; the great soul of India will topple our world.
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