If you feel that life is meaningless, you might as well read Schopenhauer

In the mid-sixties of the nineteenth century, when Nietzsche first entered the university, he found that in the university people were in droves, vying to join various associations, for fear that they would not fit in.

At that time, Nietzsche, in order to make himself look gregarious, also joined the association, he gave up his personality, thinking that he would get more, but in the end, all he got was emptiness and loneliness, just loneliness that others could not understand at all.

Nietzsche gradually turned against the people around him, at this time, he didn't know what the meaning of life was, he didn't know how to spend his life, but he wanted to explore, to seek answers.

It wasn't until he happened to read Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Appearance that Nietzsche felt that this book was written especially for him, and he was fascinated by it, and he got carried away with it, because of this book, he felt that his soul was enriched again.

Schopenhauer felt that life might be meaningless, or even a mistake, just a mass of desires burning.

Nietzsche felt that he had found his kind, and as long as there were people like him in this world, and with a spiritual teacher, he would not be afraid of anything.

Nietzsche did not believe in God, but he believed in Schopenhauer, on the battlefield, nine deaths and one life, he did not ask God for blessing, but called in a low voice:

Schopenhauer bless.

Many years later, in the face of life, Schopenhauer always felt that the most important thing in life is not the external things, but the inner quality that can really make a person live a happy life.

But as soon as he changed his words, he said something very realistic, if a person had a good fortune at the beginning, did not have to work for life, and was able to live independently, this is a rare luck, because he can get rid of the barrenness of life and be freed from the hard labor of the masses.

Most people in this world are running around and working hard for survival, not to mention liberation, he just doesn't even dare to think like this.

Schopenhauer, however, was lucky.

Schopenhauer was born in 1789 into a wealthy merchant family.

But there is no perfect existence in life, everything will have shortcomings, my father was a successful businessman, always had a lot of work, and neglected Schopenhauer's company.

What about the mother?She is young, lively, and sociable, but she can't really love her son, she thinks of him, she loves him, but only when she is bored.

So Schopenhauer said:

"Like all young mothers, I'm just a new doll. ”

His mother cared little about Schopenhauer and did not have much company, which led to the fact that although Schopenhauer had a rich material life, he lacked a spiritual life.

At the age of six, Schopenhauer was filled with despair about the world.

"When I was six years old, my parents came back from a walk outside one night and found me in deep despair. ”

So as a father, the path he chose for Schopenhauer was to study business, become an apprentice, and become a businessman in the future.

The young Schopenhauer, who grew up under his father's tutelage, did not like the life arranged by his father, but did not know how to resist.

We grow up to have the power to choose our lives.

However, when many people grow up, they forget to choose and just blindly endure it.

Life is a practice, and you have to go through a lot in order to cultivate your life to the way you like, and to cultivate your life to the way you like.

Sadly, countless people can only live as they don't like.

At the age of nine, Schopenhauer entered school and began to study systematically.

My father felt that a successful businessman should also learn to socialize, dance, and be able to interact with everyone, at least to make himself look like a gentleman.

Of course, Schopenhauer also had to learn currency conversion, because to be a businessman, you have to be able to settle accounts.

However, Schopenhauer did not like it, he neither liked to dance, nor did he want to be appreciated by everyone's girlfriends, and he was so withdrawn that he did not even have friends.

Books of the business type, which made him miserable, he loved literature and philosophy, these books obsessed him, he indulged in these books, and opened another world for himself.

At the age of 15, his father gave Schopenhauer two options:

First, study the liberal arts you like, but earn your own money to support yourself.

Second, give him money to roam Europe and come back to do business as an apprentice.

In fact, for a teenager, the second option is too sexual, and the first option is too intimidating.

My father's purpose in doing this was also to force Schopenhauer to go into business.

Schopenhauer succumbed, and he chose the second and sold himself as a merchant.

Wandering Europe, Schopenhauer traveled for two years, he kept a diary along the way, and in two years, his spirit grew, which also provided rich material for his future philosophical career.

In August 1804, Schopenhauer returned home from his European tour and, as agreed, became an apprentice.

At this time, he was seventeen years old and heroic.

However, Schopenhauer's apprenticeship did not last long, and his father became seriously ill and subsequently passed away, leaving Schopenhauer with a rich inheritanceEnough for Schopenhauer to live comfortably without working all his life.

After his father's death, Schopenhauer became more and more disappointed in his mother, and he felt that his father's death was caused by his mother's frivolous lifestyle.

In Schopenhauer's eyes, the mother married the father only for the sake of materialism.

He said:

"I know what a woman is. They use marriage as a supply station to feed and clothe themselves. ”

After the death of his father, his mother lived in Weimar and became proud of many literati, one of whom was the great writer Goethe.

As a mother, Schopenhauer's mother was incompetent.

Seeing Schopenhauer's predicament, she also couldn't bear it, she hoped that Schopenhauer could get rid of her father's expectations and do what she liked, but she refused to let Schopenhauer live with her, for fear of disturbing her happiness.

With his mother's encouragement, Schopenhauer seemed to gain strength, and he got rid of his apprenticeship and began to enter school, where he studied his favorite subjects.

Re-entering the school, Schopenhauer began a new life, he was good-looking and golden, and his rich experience made him a school grass figure.

However, he was involved with many noble children, spending lavishly and without restraint, much to his mother's displeasure.

In his mother's opinion, Schopenhauer chose a philosophy major that did not make money, and he was destined to only eat his old book and live on his inheritance in the future, and he did not know how to control himself

On the other hand, Schopenhauer got a little carried away at school, he wrote satirical poems, offended many teachers, and he was not very popular with the teachers when he went to **, and finally he could only leave in disgrace.

Mother told him:

"You are not a bad person, nor are you without ideas and upbringing. I know there are few people who can compare to you, but you are still very annoying and unbearable. ”

In the end, his mother rented a house for Schopenhauer and left him alone.

After going around school, Schopenhauer fell in love with thinking, always indulging in metaphysics, and still thinking about human suffering.

It's just that there seems to be no end to the suffering in this world.

There are many forks in the road in life, but people can only choose one, we can never be sure what is best, we can only try to see what is best for us.

Of course, every path can be walked, but we can only walk most comfortably if we walk on the path that suits us best.

In 1809, Schopenhauer was 21 years old, and he was finally old enough to have free disposal of his property.

A rich inheritance can bring him enough annuity every year to make his life worry-free.

He went on to study at university, determined to become a philosopher.

He said:

Life is so sad that I decided to think about it for the rest of my life.

Life is too short and unpredictable to be worth the effort."

In order to study philosophy, he went to the University of Berlin, where there were many famous philosophers, and the great philosopher Fichte was the rector of the school.

However, Schopenhauer did not like Fichte, who in his opinion was just nonsense, a crazy dream.

Through these doubts and studies, Schopenhauer's own philosophical thoughts, too, became clearer, he said in his notes:

"Man should sublimate from his own life, and he should realize that all processes and events, joys and pains, cannot touch his good, inner self, and that everything is but a game. ”

Later, when war broke out in Berlin, many people were defending Berlin, and Schopenhauer found it boring, but he donated a sum of money and fled.

Not long after, Schopenhauer completed his doctorate** and became a true doctor of philosophy.

Ironically, in the mother's opinion, Schopenhauer's doctor**, bullshit, no one will like this kind of thing.

But this ** is the prototype of Schopenhauer's philosophical thought.

He said:

"People are always looking for things that are far away that they don't have, rather than grasping what they have that is close at hand;People always look outward for fulfillment rather than returning to themselves, and here all mysteries can be solved. ”

Only by enriching one's inner body more and more and slowly returning to oneself can one not lose oneself.

In fact, he just wanted to say that self-satisfaction is more important than external satisfaction, and that the most fundamental thing in a person's happiness, and even his entire way of life, is internal strength, not elsewhere.

Although Schopenhauer told people that external things are not important, throughout his life, he was actually actively pursuing external things.

After obtaining his doctoral diploma, he published ** at his own expense, with a total of 500 copies.

However, as predicted by my mother, no one liked this **, so Schopenhauer's books were almost not sold, except for giving them away, which was rotten.

He also sent his ** to the famous writer Goethe.

At this time, Goethe, who had been famous for a long time, was indulging in the study of color, and after reading Schopenhauer's articles, he admired the young man very much, and he even felt that Schopenhauer's ideas coincided with his own.

But before that, Goethe looked down on Schopenhauer at all.

At this time, he treated the young man differently and invited Schopenhauer to study color and experiment together, and he wanted to train Schopenhauer to be his faithful follower.

But what Goethe didn't expect was that this young man, who had achieved nothing, turned out to be a strange man, who was only loyal to himself, and was not willing to obey Goethe at all.

There are many differences in concepts, so that the two quickly fell out.

At this time, Schopenhauer, alone, maverick, and doing his own thing, made many people extremely dissatisfied, even Schopenhauer's mother could not accept her son's behavior, and the relationship between mother and son was on the verge of collapse.

In 1814, Schopenhauer left his mother and lived on his own.

He said:

"Since I had a choice, I wanted to live in a place with beautiful nature, a strong artistic scene, and a wealth of research materials for me. Above all, this place had to give me the necessary peace.

In Dresden, he frequented the theater and enjoyed beautiful operas.

He loved to debate with people in taverns and enjoy the joy of victory.

He has no friends because he is arrogant and moody, but he is very arrogant and says:

"No one is worthy of my friendship. ”

After the completion of The World as Will and Expression, Schopenhauer carefully read and corrected it, and felt that it was a masterpiece and unprecedented, a completely new philosophical system.

He said to the publisher:

"My work is a whole new philosophical system, and there is nothing wrong with it. To date, no one has had such a thought. ”

People are in high spirits, affirming people's will and affirming people's innermost things.

It is also safe to say that life is painful and happiness is short.

Schopenhauer was confident in his work.

He kept writing letters urging the publisher, and even made abusive remarks, which annoyed the publisher, and the other party directly scolded Schopenhauer:

"The rudeness and lack of education shown in your letter give the impression that you are not a philosopher, but a coachman. ”

Although the publication was full of twists and turns, Schopenhauer felt that the work was done, the most important thing was done, and it was time to go out and play.

So, he went to Italy and traveled.

Once, he felt that women would affect his thinking, and falling in love was a waste of time, but now, a major work of life has been completed, and he thinks that he can fall in love.

So, in Italy, he met the lovely girls, to whom he condescendingly confessed, but no one could stand the arrogance and boredom of the young philosopher.

Eventually, Schopenhauer became angry

"Only when the intellect of men is blinded by sexual impulses will the sexes of short stature, narrow shoulders, broad hips, and short legs be called beautiful men. ”

He was determined to continue to come back and start a philosophical career, but "The World as Will and Appearance" was not bore anyone, no one was interested at all, and most of it was rotting in bookstores.

So the philosopher Schopenhauer exclaimed:

"The history of any life is the history of suffering".

"It would be nice if I could get rid of the illusion that leeches and frogs are the same kind."

In 1820, he became a university professor, competing with Hegel.

He called himself an avenger in a high-profile manner, specifically to challenge Hegel's authority.

However, the result of this challenge was that Schopenhauer failed in a mess.

Despite a lot of publicity from the school, his eloquence, his brilliant debates, and his passionate lectures, he attracted only 5 students.

In Hegel's class next door, Hegel spoke plainly and passionately in a language with a thick accent, but it attracted no students, and the classroom was overcrowded.

Schopenhauer did not give up, he kept trying, but the results were all failures.

He had to say sadly that no one understood his philosophy.

Life has no meaning, desire is everything, but most people will not admit this, because it is too sad, and the life that they have worked so hard to live is just a burning desire.

Schopenhauer was disappointed.

Since you're disappointed, let's leave.

He did not want to be insulted again, and he did not want to teach in the same school as Hegel.

But he didn't want to give up the idea of becoming a professor of philosophy, he wanted the world to understand his philosophy and know the greatness of his philosophy.

However, his attempts failed again and again.

It doesn't matter if he fails, he plans to save the country, become a translator, and make a little famous, so as to save his work.

Sadly, this plan also failed, and no one wanted to publish what he translated.

"If God created this world, then I don't want to be that God;The sorrow of the world breaks my heart. ”

His philosophy doesn't go well, and his feelings don't seem to be going well enough.

He once had a crush on a married woman and failed.

After the age of 30, he fell in love with a young singer again, but he felt that if he got married, he would have to dismantle his wife's family, which was annoying, so he failed again.

Either lonely or vulgar.

So, be alone.

But in 1831, Schopenhauer didn't want to be lonely, he wanted to get married, so the straight man Schopenhauer began to chase the girl, he was very courteous, smiled at her, and handed her white wine.

But the girl poured the wine directly into the water, and Schopenhauer's heart was broken.

He said sadly

"Life has no value in nature, just needs and illusions to keep it in motion. ”

The older he gets, the more lonely Schopenhauer becomes.

He was as lonely as a dog, and he didn't want to deal with the laity, but most people hated him because he was grumpy and whining.

So, Schopenhauer, who had no friends, ** friends.

He had a curly-haired dog, and he kept dogs as companions, and called him Mr. Dog.

He said:

"As soon as I see any animal, I am happy. ”

During meals, he refuses to greet anyone.

Loner. After eating, he reads the newspaper and observes the world.

In his view, human life is a miserable thing.

Every afternoon, he would take the dog out for a walk for an hour or two, talking to the dog, regardless of whether the dog could understand it or not.

At night, he either goes to the opera or the theater, but he is always angry about the noise, and even when others cough, he will feel angry, and even write a letter to report, demanding that such behavior be strictly rectified.

The older he gets, the more he likes to be alone, sometimes for two months in a row, he doesn't go out, living alone, and his old mother advises him:

"One cannot be isolated from the world to such a degree. ”

The more developed the mind, the more active the mind is, and the more sleep it needs.

Wise people always enjoy their lives and enjoy their leisure time. And those who are stupid are always afraid of idleness, afraid of the boredom that idleness brings to themselves, so they always find themselves some low-level interesting games to give themselves a little temporary pleasure.

As a philosopher, Schopenhauer was never accepted.

He wrote the preface to the second edition of The World as Will and Appearance, but waited more than ten years for the second edition to be published.

To his sadness, the book still did not sell, and his philosophy was still not accepted.

He said:

"I dedicate the now completed work to my contemporaries or compatriots, but to all mankind, for I am convinced that it will not be of no value to humanity, though its recognition will be belated, and that it is the inevitable fate of any kind of good. ”

Later in life, he wrote down all his thoughts, and as a kind of supplement to his philosophy, he contacted the publisher again.

For Schopenhauer, the publisher had lost hope, but unexpectedly, the book became a bestseller.

Schopenhauer became famous.

In the book, he talks about his own life experience, and he talks a lot about life advice, about sex, about marriage, about wealth, and about health.

But for life, he is pessimistic:

Man is a burning mass of desires, and if desires are not satisfied, they are miserable, and once they are satisfied, they are bored, and they oscillate between pain and boredom.

There is no purpose in life other than suffering as the immediate purpose of life.

He advises young people, not to be obsessed with external things, but to develop their own personality:

We should follow the direction that suits our personality and strive to develop it appropriately, and we should avoid everything else.

The most important and crucial thing for our happiness in life is our personality, and this is because personality works on all occasions.

The more things a person has, the less he needs external things, and the less important others are to him.

After becoming famous, his books continued to be published.

Schopenhauer's vanity was satisfied.

In 1860, Schopenhauer had a health problem, and he lamented:

"I can bear the thought that soon my body will be eaten by insects;But the thought of those philosophy professors cannibalizing my philosophy makes me shudder. ”

After Schopenhauer's death, his philosophy was still tepid, but a young man named Nietzsche discovered the subtlety of this philosophy and regarded Schopenhauer as his soul mentor.

From Schopenhauer's book, Nietzsche felt that he had found a confidant.

Later, Nietzsche also found his own philosophy.

But his life was too tragic, shouting the most positive words, living the most negative life, speaking the wisest words, and living the most tragic life.

He not only shouted "I am the sun", but also threatened to say "The sun is the golden ** under my crotch."

However, Schopenhauer's philosophy, while pessimistic, was positive in his life.

Schopenhauer said

A person's happiness, and even his entire way of life, lies in his own inner quality, which determines whether a person can achieve inner happiness, and external things can only indirectly affect people's happiness.

But there are too many of us who don't know how to satisfy ourselves, they only know how to seek satisfaction from the outside, so they always get the happiness they want, and even if they get it for a short time, they will quickly fall into another kind of pain and anxiety.

Text|Not interesting souls.