From ancient times to the present, happiness in life has been the goal that the masses actively pursue in life, and it is also a prominent theme in literature and art. So, how do you look at life?And in what way should people live happily?
Whether it is an outstanding scholar, a business tycoon, a political elite, an Internet celebrity blogger, an emotional expert, or an entertainment star, they all share their life experiences from the perspective of their respective strengths. However, you must know that life experience is not equal to life wisdom, and chicken soup literature is often shallow. Those profound and incisive insights related to life often come from the mouths of philosophically minded people. Among them, philosophers, as people who "love wisdom" and constantly pursue wisdom, are probably the most vocal.
Schopenhauer, the author of the book "The Wisdom of Life" that I am going to share today, stands out from the philosophers who have discussed the topic of life with his distinctive ideas and outstanding personality, and has influenced generation after generation.
Although the philosopher had written his main philosophical work, The World as Will and Appearance, at the age of thirty-one, he remained unknown for most of his life, and it was not until the publication of the book "The Wisdom of Life" that he succeeded in attracting attention and becoming known.
The book "The Wisdom of Life" can be said to be Schopenhauer's famous work, and a netizen on Douban commented:"If you only read one book of Chicken Soup for the Soul in your life, you have to read this one.", this evaluation is very in place.
So, what kind of view does Schopenhauer have about life in his book?
Socialization occupies an important position in the life of every modern person. People are engaged in a variety of social activities from morning to night, day after day, whether it is online contact or offline communication, everyone enjoys the feeling of chatting with others and being surrounded by people. After all, no one is an island, people are social animals, with their own unique social attributes, and everyone is in an interactive relationship with the outside world and others.
Then you may be curious, according to Schopenhauer's "either lonely or vulgar", you get off work or after class to ask a friend to eat and chat, is vulgar, you inadvertently use your mobile phone to swipe Weibo, WeChat or something is also vulgar, you have nothing to do to play cards, go shopping, or vulgar. Aren't all vulgar people in this world?Who can escape vulgarity?
But have you noticed that social interaction certainly brings us joy and joy, and brings us a sense of belonging at a specific moment, but why behind all kinds of social interaction, people find more loneliness hidden in their hearts and fatigue and boredom with the crowd?
Schopenhauer, if he had lived in modern times, would probably have been seen as a "social phobia", but he had his own good reasons for doing so. In Schopenhauer's view, most social interaction was unfree. For example, some people panic when ** rings and would rather text than answer**. When dealing with others, we inevitably need to sacrifice some of our unique personalities to fit into the environment of conversation, which is often banal and monotonous, and leaves nothing to be gained in terms of ideas.
Still, most people are constantly looking for social and entertainment because the feeling of boredom that comes from a lack of social interaction seems even more terrifying, and Schopenhauer explained this boredom as an inner emptiness. It is precisely because the individual does not have enough content to separate himself from others and to make his spirit active by himself that he tirelessly seeks stimulation from the outside world. He astutely pointed out that those who are keen on social activities often do not possess a wealth of thought and outstanding intelligence.
It is important to note that Schopenhauer's purpose is not to criticize social behavior, but to remind us to avoid inferior social activities and to avoid over-seeking those cheap, easily available pleasures. In life, those who are lonely do not deliberately avoid social interaction, but they have their own spiritual and intellectual pleasures.
Therefore, loneliness in the true sense is not the boredom and pain after the end of entertainment, but to reduce the need for social interaction in the outside world, to expand one's inner freedom, to pursue the value of spirit and thought, and to obtain a complete and true peace of mind. Proper moderation of social activities, returning to one's own existence, becoming oneself, is the right path to happiness.
In this way, in order not to turn loneliness into boredom, it is another problem that we have to face to let leisure time play its due role. Let's take a look at what Schopenhauer had to say about this issue.
Like many philosophers, Schopenhauer never married or had children, and lived a simple and celibate life. Let's take a look at how the philosopher spends his day
Every morning, after getting up and taking a cold shower, I start to write until noon. Then he played the flute for half an hour, then went to a restaurant called the "English Hotel" for dinner, and after the meal he went home and read until four o'clock, then he would take his curly dog for a walk and go to the library at six o'clock to read. In the evening, Schopenhauer would go to the theater to see a play or listen to **, and after the show, he would still eat in the "English Hotel", and after the meal, he would go home and read a few pages of the ancient Indian scripture "Vedas" before going to bed. In this way, the philosopher's day is over.
Doesn't this kind of life sound a bit boring and monotonous?If you have a long leisure time and no longer worry about overtime or schoolwork, don't rush to be happy, and in a few days you will find yourself battling the boredom that comes with it.Xi
When you lose the stimulation of external activities and you don't have the ability to enjoy yourself, then you may ask the ultimate question in the depths of your soul: where is the purpose and meaning of life?And this question is difficult to find an answer. At some point, leisure is more of a burden and a nuisance than a gift of happiness, as Schopenhauer put it. But what's going on?
There is a logical relationship here that needs to be clarified, that is, although leisure is important, it is not the goal, if a person is just rushing to work hard in his free time, then he will get nothing but blank boredom and comfort. Leisure should be used as a means to promote happiness, not something that people are deliberately pursuing.
So how should leisure play its truly meaningful role?When it comes to avoiding the anxiety and boredom of free time, Schopenhauer offers some practical advice.
The first is to grasp the present and live in the present. If you are always thinking about the future in your heart, you will inevitably be worried and in a state of anxiety about waiting for the future;In the same way, when you look back too much, you will be immersed in the memories. So, Schopenhauer reminds us that only now is the only true and real. If you want to enjoy your leisure and find spiritual peace in your leisure, you must remember: cherish the present.
Secondly, long-term solitude is easy to make people have a "glass heart", and they will pay too much attention to and interpret the inadvertent words and behaviors of others, and include all those trivial and short things in the family into their own vision, which is unbearable. In this regard, Schopenhauer suggested that everyone should learn to be indifferent and indifferent to a certain extent, not to have too much expectation and concern for the outside world, and not to be in a hurry to tell others what they think, so that they will enter a state of entering and being born, and help us who are alone to avoid many unnecessary troubles.
In daily life, dealing with others is an inevitable thing, and whether you are gregarious or not has become an important criterion for evaluating a person. We always feel that we are living in the eyes of others, and some of us are especially concerned about how we show to others.
But in the process of this, there are some things that can be bothersome. For example, some good people want to be affirmed by others and push themselves too hard, or they don't know how to refuse others' requests and feel lost and sad. Also, when you are despised and neglected by others, some people will feel frustrated in their self-esteem, and if the other party inadvertently says something of unknown meaning, you may ponder it in your heart for a long time and stage a vigorous inner drama. These phenomena are not uncommon, almost all of us have felt this way, and you may blame yourself for being overly sensitive and worried, but the next time, the situation still does not change.
In fact, this is very normal, Schopenhauer comforted everyone and said that this is a special weakness in human nature, don't be too yourself. However, if the focus on the perception of others is beyond the reasonable range and hinders our normal work and life, then we need to take it seriously and reflect.
It is very beneficial for our happiness to put what others think of us, and to do this, we must first clearly understand that others are external to us, and that each person can only understand others according to his own mind and intellect. When you are not on the same level as someone else's personality, temperament, or knowledge and experience, many misunderstandings will arise, and other people's opinions of you will often deviate from the real situation.
So, if you are criticized and slandered by others, it is wise to choose to be tolerant and tolerant, and to have an objective conviction of your own worth and strengths, so that you can protect yourself from too much mental distress.
If you still find yourself unable to overcome your excessive attention to other people's opinions, then Schopenhauer has a sharp quote that may help you. He argues that most of the people are mediocre and don't have any real insight, so their opinions don't deserve attention at all.
So, from now on, change our easily hurtful and sensitive self-esteem, stop being complacent when we are praised, stop being sullen when we are despised, try to reduce our sensitivity to other people's opinions, and return to the foundation of our happiness, which is the health and comfort of our body and the abundance of our inner spirit, and you will have a more peaceful and calm heart.
For more exciting content about this book, interested friends may wish to find this book to read by themselves.
Staff Writer: Hou Chunxiao, Department of Philosophy, Fudan University.Editor: Lily Chow.