Schopenhauer's classic quotes

 　　1. Either be vulgar or be lonely

　　– "Either be lonely or be vulgar"
　　2. Peace of mind is impossible without a considerable amount of solitude.
　　3.
　　One of the most peculiar weaknesses of human nature is caring about how others perceive us.

　　4. Life is like a pendulum, swinging between pain and weariness.

　　5. A man can only be himself as long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love
　　freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is truly free.

　　6. Things themselves are unchanging; what changes is human perception. 7.

　　If you find human society so unsatisfactory that you feel more suited to solitude, then you are someone who cannot endure the dullness and oppression of solitude for long, especially in your youth. In this regard, I suggest you cultivate the following habit: bring some solitude into social interactions, learn to maintain a certain degree of solitude in crowds, don't immediately express your thoughts, and don't care too much about what others say; don't have too many expectations of others, whether morally or intellectually; regarding the opinions of others, you should strengthen your indifferent attitude and feelings—this is the most practical and reliable way to cultivate a commendable quality of tolerance.
　　If you do these things, then even if you live among people, you won't have too much contact and interaction with others: your relationship with them will be purely objective. This precaution will keep you at a necessary distance from society, preventing you from getting too close, and also protecting you from maintaining that necessary distance.
　　—"Either Solitude or Mediocrity"
　　9. Only by knowing the ending of a book can you understand its beginning.

　　10. If we suspect someone is lying, we should pretend to believe them, because they will become increasingly bold and confident, and lie more daringly, eventually revealing their true colors.

　　11. No one lives in the past, and no one lives in the future; the present is the only form of life that truly belongs to us.

　　12. Everyone is imprisoned within their own consciousness.

　　13. What people ultimately understand and appreciate are
　　merely things that are essentially the same as themselves.
　　14. A person with profound and noble thoughts should not allow their mind to be completely occupied by private trifles and petty troubles, so as to be unable to engage in profound and noble thinking, because doing so is indeed "destroying the purpose of life for the sake of living." * We are only concerned with how to enable a person to develop their nature in the way that its content and characteristics allow; we should neither hope to change nor outright condemn the nature of others. * Truly great thinkers, like eagles, build their nests on solitary heights.
　　— *The Wisdom of Life*

　　15. We can compare wealth to seawater; the more you drink, the thirstier you become; the same is true of fame.
　　— *The Wisdom of Life*
　　16. This world is steeped in sin: savages devour each other, civilized people deceive each other. This is the so-called way of the world. Wise people know to keep a distance from the fire when seeking warmth, unlike fools who get too close; the latter, after burning themselves, plunge into the cold solitude, loudly complaining about the scorching flames.
　　— *The Wisdom of Life*

　　17. The consequence of mental dullness is inner emptiness. This emptiness is branded on the faces of countless people. Furthermore, the constant, intense attention people show to all things happening in the external world—even the most insignificant things—also exposes this inner emptiness. Inner emptiness is the true root of boredom; those with empty hearts are constantly seeking external stimulation, trying to activate their spirit and emotions through something or someone.
　　— *The Wisdom of Life*
　　18. A so-called brilliant life is nothing more than a prisoner of desire.
　　We often don't think about what we have, but are obsessed with what we can't have.
　　19. All truth goes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed
　　; second, it is violently opposed ; third, it is accepted as self-evident.
　　20. Our lifestyle is like an oil painting; up close, you can't see its true meaning. To appreciate its beauty, you must stand back.
　　21. Great minds prefer solitude in this world. The faces of our own people tell more and are more interesting than the words spoken by their mouths, because the mouth only speaks of thoughts, while the face reveals the essence of those thoughts. 22.
　　Given the right conditions and opportunity, everyone is inclined to do evil. 23.
　　Forgetting is more powerful than despair. 24.
　　Only those who have a firm and unwavering conviction in their own outstanding talents and unique value are called proud. 25.
　　Leisure is the essence of life; otherwise, one's entire life is nothing but hard work and toil. …Ordinary people only care about how to pass the time, while those with a little talent consider how to utilize it. People with narrow minds are easily invaded by boredom because their intellect serves only their desires; it is a tool of those desires.
　　— *The Wisdom of Life*
　　27. If we behave politely and speak kindly, we can treat many people rudely without consequence.

　　28. A spring, if constantly compressed by external forces, will lose its elasticity; so too will our spirit, if constantly pressured by the thoughts of others, lose its elasticity.
　　— *Reading and Books*
　　29. The happiness a person can obtain is determined from the very beginning by that person's personality. Pain and boredom are the two mortal enemies of human happiness. When we feel happy, when we distance ourselves from one of these enemies that frees us from such pain, we also approach the other enemy, and vice versa. Unsatisfied desires bring pain, satisfied desires bring boredom; life swings like a pendulum between pain and boredom. Wealth is like seawater: the more you drink, the thirstier you become.
　　— *The Wisdom of Life*
　　30. In such an imperfect world, cherish any true friends you encounter. Sometimes, we cannot even be true to ourselves. Therefore, there is no need to be harsh on others; human nature is inherently complex and strange.
　　—From "On Friends"
　　31. Reputation is conscience outwardly expressed; conscience is reputation hidden inwardly.

　　32. One should think like a great genius and speak like an ordinary person, whenever possible.
　　33. The measure of a person's happiness should not be how many happy things they have, but whether they are bothered by trivial matters. Only happy people dwell on insignificant things. Those experiencing great calamities have no time for such trivialities. Therefore, it is only after losing happiness that people realize its existence.

　　34. A person's fondness for social interaction is directly proportional to their intellectual mediocrity and intellectual poverty. In this world, people either choose solitude or vulgarity; they have no other choice.
　　—From "The Wisdom of Life"
　　35. Many people indeed have good fortune in life because they often wear a cheerful smile—this wins them the favor of others. But we should still be cautious, and learn this lesson from Hamlet's immortal words: "A man can smile and then stab you in the back."
　　— *The World as Will and Representation*
　　36. The greatest mistake mankind can make is to trade health for other material possessions!
　　37. If a person chooses a solitary life out of justifiable dislike for others and out of fear, then he cannot endure the gloom of solitude for long, especially when he is young. My advice to such a person is to cultivate the habit of bringing a portion of solitude into society, learning to maintain a certain degree of solitude even among people. In this way, he must learn not to immediately tell others his thoughts; furthermore, he should not take what others say too seriously. He cannot have too many expectations of others, whether morally or intellectually. He should cultivate an indifferent and detached attitude towards the opinions of others, because this is the most practical way to cultivate commendable tolerance. Although living among people, he cannot completely become one of them; he should maintain a relationship with them as objectively as possible. This helps him avoid overly close connections with society, which is also called protecting himself from slander and contamination by others.
　　—On Solitude

　　38. Ordinary people are similar to children in this respect: if we spoil them, they become naughty and mischievous. Therefore, we cannot be too accommodating or compliant with anyone. Generally speaking, if we refuse to lend money to a friend, we will not lose that friend; but if we lend him money, we are more likely to lose him. Similarly, if we maintain a certain arrogance and carelessness towards our friends, we will not easily lose them; but if we show too much politeness and attentiveness, we may lose these friends, because our politeness and attentiveness will make our friends arrogant and intolerable.
　　—The Wisdom of Life
　　39. Sleeping is borrowing from death; the more and longer you sleep, the longer the repayment period.
　　—The Wisdom of Life
　　40. The hardships and difficulties encountered and overcome by a melancholy and anxious personality are mostly imagined, while the hardships suffered by a cheerful and carefree person are real. Therefore, those who always think negatively are less likely to be discouraged by disappointment, while those who only see the bright side of things often fail to achieve their desires.

　　41. Happiness is merely a temporary cessation of desire.
　　We are like lambs in the field, reveling under the butcher's gaze.

　　42. Friends all claim to be sincere, but in reality, enemies are the truly sincere. Therefore, we should treat the attacks and accusations of our enemies as bitter medicine, using it to better understand ourselves. Are true friends in times of trouble really so rare? On the contrary, once we become friends with someone, they begin to suffer and borrow money from us.
　　—"The Wisdom of Life"
　　43. People inflict pain on their fellow human beings for no other reason than malice. Of all animals, only humans do this.
　　44. Whenever a person returns from a long voyage, they always have stories to tell.

　　45. To be angry at the behavior of others is as foolish as to throw a tantrum at a stone in our path. For many, our wisest thought is: "I'm not going to change them, I'm going to use them."
　　— *The Wisdom of Life*
　　46. We shouldn't be overly happy or overly sad about anything, partly because everything changes, and partly because our judgments of what is advantageous and what is disadvantageous are illusory. Therefore, almost everyone has been deeply saddened by something at some point, only to find it turned out to be a great thing. Or, things we were once overjoyed about become the source of our extreme suffering.

　　47. Humility is merely honesty for the unremarkable, but hypocrisy for the exceptionally talented.

　　48. Fundamentally, only our independent and autonomous thinking truly possesses truth and life. Because only these are what we repeatedly comprehend. The thoughts of others are like leftovers on someone else's table, like clothes discarded by a stranger.

　　49. Politeness is a counterfeit coin; being unwilling to spend it reveals a lack of intelligence.
　　50. Truth learned purely from books is to us as a prosthetic limb, dentures, a wax nose, or even artificial skin graft. Truth gained through independent thought is like our natural limbs: only they truly belong to us.
　　51. There are few people in life worthy of envy, but countless people suffer tragic fates.
　　52. Humility is a virtue—this statement is a clever invention of fools; because according to it, everyone must portray themselves as a fool, thus cleverly bringing everyone to the same level.
　　—"The Wisdom of Life"

　　53. The first forty years of a person's life are the main text, and the next thirty years are the annotations added to it.
　　Although external changes occur constantly throughout a person's life, their character remains constant, like a series of variations where the main melody remains unchanged. No one can escape their own personality.
　　—From *The Wisdom of Life*
　　54. Worthless things are constantly increasing: due to frequent repetition, many things that initially seemed important to us gradually become worthless.
　　55. We can compare a crowd of people to a fire. Wise people know to keep a distance from the fire when warming themselves, unlike fools who get too close; the latter, after burning themselves, plunge into cold loneliness, loudly complaining about the scorching flames.
　　—From *Either Be Vulgar or Be Lonely*
　　56. Daily life without passion is long and dull. Once passion is present, life is full of suffering.
　　57. A certain amount of care, pain, or trouble is necessary for every man at all times. A ship without a ballast is unstable and will not go straight.
　　A certain amount of sorrow, pain, or trouble is necessary for everyone at all times. A ship without ballast is unstable and cannot steadily move towards its destination.
　　58. People are like hedgehogs in winter; getting too close hurts, and staying too far away is cold.
　　— *The Wisdom of Life*