Stacey's blog: "Rambles"

A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants. Arthur Schopenhauer A man's delight in looking forward to and hoping for some particular satisfaction is a part of the pleasure flowing out of it, enjoyed in advance. But this is afterward deducted, for the more we look forward to anything the less we enjoy it when it comes. Arthur Schopenhauer A man's face as a rule says more, and more interesting things, than his mouth, for it is a compendium of everything his mouth will ever say, in that it is the monogram of all this man's thoughts and aspirations. Arthur Schopenhauer After your death you will be what you were before your birth. Arthur Schopenhauer All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people. Arthur Schopenhauer As the biggest library if it is in disorder is not as useful as a small but well-arranged one, so you may accumulate a vast amount of knowledge but it will be of far less value than a much smaller amount if you have not thought it over for yourself. Arthur Schopenhauer Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination: both depend on being outside rather than inside a situation, and one leads to the other. Arthur Schopenhauer Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them in: but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents. Arthur Schopenhauer Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal. Arthur Schopenhauer Compassion is the basis of morality. Arthur Schopenhauer Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. Arthur Schopenhauer Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right. Arthur Schopenhauer Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world. Arthur Schopenhauer Every possession and every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour. Arthur Schopenhauer Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world. Arthur Schopenhauer Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude. Arthur Schopenhauer Honor has not to be won; it must only not be lost. Arthur Schopenhauer I've never know any trouble than an hour's reading didn't assuage. Arthur Schopenhauer If we were not all so interested in ourselves, life would be so uninteresting that none of us would be able to endure it. Arthur Schopenhauer If you want to know your true opinion of someone, watch the effect produced in you by the first sight of a letter from him. Arthur Schopenhauer In action a great heart is the chief qualification. In work, a great head. Arthur Schopenhauer In the sphere of thought, absurdity and perversity remain the masters of the world, and their dominion is suspended only for brief periods. Arthur Schopenhauer It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain. Arthur Schopenhauer It is in the treatment of trifles that a person shows what they are. Arthur Schopenhauer It is only a man's own fundamental thoughts that have truth and life in them. For it is these that he really and completely understands. To read the thoughts of others is like taking the remains of someone else's meal, like putting on the discarded clothes of a stranger. Arthur Schopenhauer It is with trifles, and when he is off guard, that a man best reveals his character. Arthur Schopenhauer It's the niceties that make the difference fate gives us the hand, and we play the cards. Arthur Schopenhauer Just as the largest library, badly arranged, is not so useful as a very moderate one that is well arranged, so the greatest amount of knowledge, if not elaborated by our own thoughts, is worth much less than a far smaller volume that has been abundantly and repeatedly thought over. Arthur Schopenhauer Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed. Arthur Schopenhauer Martyrdom is the only way a man can become famous without ability. Arthur Schopenhauer 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. Arthur Schopenhauer 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. Arthur Schopenhauer Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax. Arthur Schopenhauer Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else's head instead of with one's own. Arthur Schopenhauer Satisfaction consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of life. Arthur Schopenhauer 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. Arthur Schopenhauer The alchemists in their search for gold discovered many other things of greater value. Arthur Schopenhauer The difficulty is to try and teach the multitude that something can be true and untrue at the same time. Arthur Schopenhauer The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice. Arthur Schopenhauer The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it. Arthur Schopenhauer The fundament upon which all our knowledge and learning rests is the inexplicable. Arthur Schopenhauer The greatest achievements of the human mind are generally received with distrust. Arthur Schopenhauer The man never feels the want of what it never occurs to him to ask for. Arthur Schopenhauer The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him. Arthur Schopenhauer The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom. Arthur Schopenhauer The wise have always said the same things, and fools, who are the majority have always done just the opposite. Arthur Schopenhauer There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity. Arthur Schopenhauer They tell us that suicide is the greatest piece of cowardice... that suicide is wrong; when it is quite obvious that there is nothing in the world to which every man has a more unassailable title than to his own life and person. Arthur Schopenhauer To buy books would be a good thing if we also could buy the time to read them. Arthur Schopenhauer To find out your real opinion of someone, judge the impression you have when you first see a letter from them. Arthur Schopenhauer To free a person from error is to give, and not to take away. Arthur Schopenhauer Treat a work of art like a prince. Let it speak to you first. Arthur Schopenhauer We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves to be like other people. Arthur Schopenhauer We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people. Arthur Schopenhauer Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become; and the same is true of fame. Arthur Schopenhauer Will minus intellect constitutes vulgarity. Arthur Schopenhauer Will power is to the mind like a strong blind man who carries on his shoulders a lame man who can see. Arthur Schopenhauer With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy. Arthur Schopenhauer