July 3, 2025 • 21 mins
In this podcast we will be talking about 7 Life Lessons From Arthur Schopenhauer. Arthur Schopenhauer is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers and his work is part of the philosophy of pessimism. He is mostly known for his famous book “The World as Will and Representation”.
So here are 7 Life Lessons From Arthur Schopenhauer -
01. Find yourself in solitude
02. Remove suffering to be happy
03. Understand your subconscious mind
04. Limit your expectations
05. Be compassionate
06. Avoid boredom
07. Make room for art
I hope you enjoyed listening to the podcast and hope these 7 life lessons from Arthur Schopenhauer will add value to your life.
Arthur Schopenhauer is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers of all time. He lived from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century and while he is often described as a genius philosopher, he has also been given less flattering monikers such as The Sad Prince of pessimism and The Messenger of Misery, due to his particularly unique philosophical views . He influenced the work of many great thinkers after him, from philosophers to psychologists to physicists. Arthur Schopenhauer’s work is part of the philosophy of pessimism and Schopenhauer is mostly known for his famous book “The World as Will and Representation”, in which he describes the physical world as the manifestation of an invisible force, a metaphysical will. Schopenhauer's philosophy is based on the idea that the world we perceive is not the real world, we see reality through our own personal filters, which Indian philosophy calls "the veils of Maya" that prevent us from seeing “actual reality”. Schopenhauer is one of the philosophers who pondered the most on subjects such as loneliness, solitude, boredom and what true happiness means.
So here are 7 Life Lessons From Arthur Schopenhauer -
01. Find yourself in solitude
02. Remove suffering to be happy
03. Understand your subconscious mind
04. Limit your expectations
05. Be compassionate
06. Avoid boredom
07. Make room for art
I hope you enjoyed listening to the podcast and hope these 7 life lessons from Arthur Schopenhauer will add value to your life.
Arthur Schopenhauer is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers of all time. He lived from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century and while he is often described as a genius philosopher, he has also been given less flattering monikers such as The Sad Prince of pessimism and The Messenger of Misery, due to his particularly unique philosophical views . He influenced the work of many great thinkers after him, from philosophers to psychologists to physicists. Arthur Schopenhauer’s work is part of the philosophy of pessimism and Schopenhauer is mostly known for his famous book “The World as Will and Representation”, in which he describes the physical world as the manifestation of an invisible force, a metaphysical will. Schopenhauer's philosophy is based on the idea that the world we perceive is not the real world, we see reality through our own personal filters, which Indian philosophy calls "the veils of Maya" that prevent us from seeing “actual reality”. Schopenhauer is one of the philosophers who pondered the most on subjects such as loneliness, solitude, boredom and what true happiness means.
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(00:00):
Arthur Schopenhauer is considered to be oneof the greatest philosophers of all time.
He lived from the end of the 18th to the beginningof the 19th century and while he is often
described as a genius philosopher, he hasalso been given less flattering monikers such
as The Sad Prince of pessimism and The Messengerof Misery, due to his particularly unique
(00:23):
philosophical views . He influenced the workof many great thinkers after him, from philosophers
to psychologists to physicists, includingSigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig
Wittgenstein, Albert Einstein and so manyothers.
Arthur Schopenhauer’s work is part of thephilosophy of pessimism
(00:45):
and Schopenhauer is mostly known for his famousbook “The World as Will and Representation”,
in which he describes the physical world asthe manifestation of an invisible force, a
metaphysical will.
Schopenhauer's philosophy is based on theidea that the world we perceive is not the
real world, we see reality through our ownpersonal filters, which Indian philosophy
(01:10):
calls "the veils of Maya" that prevent usfrom seeing “actual reality”.
Schopenhauer is one of the philosophers whopondered the most on subjects such as loneliness,
solitude, boredom and what true happinessmeans.
Although his views on life are known for beingextremely pessimistic, his work reveals a
(01:32):
deep wisdom which can teach us how to dealwith the most unpleasant episodes in our lives,
which is why in this video we bring you 7life lessons inspired by the philosophy of
Arthur Schopenhauer: 1. (01:44):
undefined
Find yourself in solitudeArthur Schopenhauer says: “We can only be
entirely ourselves as long as we are alone;therefore, whoever does not love solitude,
also does not love freedom; for only whenwe are alone, are we free.”
(02:10):
According to Schopenhauer, the capacity tobe alone is one of the most distinctive marks
of a high intellectual being.
Sociability has an inverse relationship withthe intellectual capacity of someone.
The more sociable we are, the less we caninvest in developing our intellectual capacity.
(02:30):
The less sociable we are, the more time wehave to reflect on the meaning of our existence,
on who we really are.
That is why Schopenhauer encourages us tolearn to be in solitude, to find that quiet
place in our minds where we can retreat andfind ourselves.
Our freedom exists only in our solitude, whenall the outside noise is shut down.
(02:55):
However, there is a danger associated withbeing lonely and a distinction must be made
between solitude and loneliness.
If loneliness means to be desperately in needto be with other people and to not be able
to be, solitude means that you made a consciouschoice to be by yourself and enjoy your own
(03:16):
company.
Schopenhauer doesn’t encourage us to withdrawfrom this world completely, he just emphasizes
that you need to learn to be by yourself,at least from time to time, in order to connect
with your greatest aspirations and inner nature.
To apply this lesson in our own lives, weneed to put aside more time to spend alone,
(03:39):
reading books, meditating, taking long walksoutside, and contemplating the world and our
existence.
Nowadays, with so many distracting forceslike social media, deadlines at work, we can
easily forget about our long-term goals.
Thus, we become prisoners of circumstance,we lose control of our own lives.
(04:03):
The best thing to do to avoid this is to prioritizethe time we allocate to ourselves.
We need to write “me-time” into our agenda, dedicated time in which we can retreat from
the outside world.
We could schedule a meditation walk to a nearbypark, or block a few hours to spend time writing
(04:23):
in a journal and to think on our goals inlife, or perhaps spending some time reading
a philosophy book which could give us newinsights into the world around us.
2.
Remove suffering to be happySchopenhauer tells us: “What is generally
called happiness is actually and essentiallyonly ever negative and absolutely never positive.”
(04:53):
Oftentimes Schopenhauer is described as aphilosopher who didn’t believe in the concept
of happiness.
This is far from the truth.
Schopenhauer didn’t link happiness withfeelings of joy, pleasure and ecstasy, which
he saw merely as ways to escape from boredomand negativity, but rather he saw in happiness
(05:14):
the absence of suffering in the first place.
For example, we are not aware of how healthywe are.
It is only when we start to feel some sortof pain, such as a headache or a stomach upset,
that we notice our bodies not operating asnormal.
In the same way, only when we experience acertain degree of emotional suffering, we
(05:36):
realize that we were happy before, but notanymore.
Given this simple fact, in order to be happy,what we need to do is to remember the happy
times we had in life, to evaluate where weare now, what kind of suffering we’re experiencing
at that moment and make the effort to removethat suffering.
(05:57):
To do that, we need to track our happy momentsand try to relive them as much as possible.
Also, when we experience something unpleasant,we should try to find methods to remove these
unpleasant experiences from our lives.
It can be a painful process to make all thosechanges, but it is incredibly worthwhile.
(06:19):
If we just focus on getting pleasure fromlife, it means we ignore the problems instead
of facing them until eventually they catchup with us once they have become significant
enough issues to be unavoidable.
But if we face our problems directly, insteadof ignoring them, we will be able to remove
the roots of suffering and we can increasethe amount of happiness we experience in our
(06:43):
lives.
For example, consider that you are workingin a miserable job that you hate, but you
can’t leave it because you need to pay therent and cover your bills.
One evening, after a long day at work, youstop in front of your favourite shop and you
see a stunning outfit in the window that youdesperately want to add to your collection
and you’re sure will make you feel better.
(07:06):
Instead of buying that outfit with your creditcard to please yourself for a brief moment,
you should try to reflect on the cause ofyour unhappiness.
In our example, you realise that you maketoo many sacrifices for a job that gives you
so little satisfaction so instead of the short-liveddopamine hit of an impulse shopping spree,
(07:27):
you could spend that money on further educationto open access to better jobs that will make
you happier in the long run or to start aside business like an eBay shop or YouTube
channel to shift focus away from your dayjob and begin to build a platform to help
you escape it permanently.
3.
Understand your subconscious mindTo quote Schopenhauer: “Man can do what
(07:51):
he wills but he cannot will what he wills.”
“Will” is the basis on which Schopenhauer'sphilosophy as a whole was built.
In his main book entitled "The World as Willand Representation", we understand from the
concept of will that it is a psychologicalforce that controls our actions.
(08:13):
We often find ourselves doing things automatically,like an invisible force controlling us.
This is what Schopenhauer calls “the will”- a blind and irrational force, which takes
over our minds in many life situations.
We often think we are in control of our actions,but actually there is something bigger than
(08:34):
ourselves which drives us.
We are like the rider on a big elephant - oursubconscious.
We, the conscious mind can only guide thiselephant, but we cannot fully control it.
The best thing to do is to become friendswith him, trying to understand him better,
what drives him, what scares him and guideshim on safe land.
(08:57):
We need to keep in mind we cannot force himto do anything, but we can help him achieve
his goals faster.
As a real life example, consider that youwant to lose weight.
You can try to force yourself to keep a rigiddiet, sweat for 2 hours every day in the gym,
but there is a great danger you will makeyour “elephant” angry and he will protest
(09:20):
in the most brutal way, deciding all of asudden to eat an entire chocolate cake at
the end of a difficult day at work.
Your elephant will get his revenge if youdo not treat him with kindness.
To avoid making your elephant angry, you shouldtry to introduce a new tiny habit each day,
for example today you can start eating onlyone slice of bread at each meal, tomorrow
(09:44):
you can walk for 10 minutes, the day aftertomorrow you can walk for 20 minutes and so
on.
Make the changes carefully and systematicallyif you want to see the long-term effects.
4.
Limit your expectationsSchopenhauer teaches us: “The safest way
(10:06):
of not being very miserable is to not expectto be very happy.”
Schopenhauer argues that a life with lesssuffering is much better than a life with
the greatest joys.
When we are young, we pursue our goals withenergy and anxiety, with the far stretched
ideals of happiness, chasing professionalambitions to be somebody in society, fighting
(10:31):
to be somebody we are not.
In other words, we put a lot of stress onourselves and our expectations are very high.
Nowadays, especially, the lifestyles of therich and famous are presented as a model to
follow, but, behind the scenes, they oftenfight with severe issues of drug abuse, depression
(10:52):
and anxiety.
We should stop chasing these kinds of ideals.
Instead of fighting to acquire or experiencethings to make us happy, we should focus on
minimizing the pain.
As we get older, a lot of us realize thispattern and start giving up the frantic pursuit
of happiness that kept us miserable in ouryounger years.
(11:14):
We start to focus on minimizing pain, ratherthan pursuing pleasures in life.
That invisible “will” which pushes ustowards an endless torture and letting the
desires run our lives, has less effect whenwe are older.
But, certainly, it is much better if we tryto practice limiting our expectations from
(11:34):
a younger age, to live more of those happieryears, without so much suffering.
To do this, we need to work on how we seethe world and how we see ourselves.
The way we see ourselves and the world isoftentimes the root of our unhappiness.
We need to be more realistic about our qualitiesand skills, we need to put our professional
(11:57):
goals on a more realistic scale.
Also, we need to be more compassionate towardsother people, have fewer expectations from
our partner, and stop demanding other peoplebe perfect.
It is far better to work on our real qualitiesand skills and develop them step by step,
(12:18):
than pretend we are something we are not inorder to achieve a higher position in our
job.
Also, it is far better to enjoy the companyof an imperfect partner than to change your
partner often in the pursuit of finding aperfect one.
To be happy, peaceful, and healthy is muchmore important than to be famous, adored or
(12:40):
having a partner as a trophy to show off.
Therefore, we need to limit our expectationsand learn to enjoy life as it is.
5.
Be compassionateSchopenhauer posits that: “Compassion is
the basis of morality.”
(13:01):
Schopenhauer believed that there are manyways to free a person from suffering, at the
same time saving him from the crisis of existence: one is the path of art, the path of austerity (13:06):
undefined
and non-desire, and another one is the pathof morals.
If art is a temporary remedy, the path ofmorals is a permanent remedy: consequently,
one must realize that happiness is not thegoal of life.
(13:29):
This is because life has no goal, and perhapssleep is the only moment when a person achieves
a natural state of happiness.
Our environment would be unbearable if wedidn’t have any moral guidance to navigate
through it.
We need to find meaning in this world andone of the most effective ways to find this
meaning is to learn to be compassionate towardsother human beings.
(13:54):
We should not pursue our happiness at thecost of other people.
In the end, we are all manifestations of theWill, we are all in this life together, and,
according to Schopenhauer, all moral actionscan be reduced to “injure no one; on the
contrary, help everyone as much as you can”.
(14:15):
In our daily lives, to show compassion andgood morals, we need to think of the people
around us every time we speak and act, wehave to make sure we do not injure anyone,
that our actions are fair and considerateto others.
Also, we have to do our best to help the peoplewho need help.
For sure, we can think of family members andfriends who are now in trouble, maybe they
(14:39):
do not have a job, maybe are struggling witha physical disease or condition, perhaps they
are having problems in their relationship.
It is not that difficult to put in a goodword with the company you are currently working
in for a friend applying for a job there.
It is not difficult to call them to ask howthey are doing, how they are coping with their
(15:00):
medical issues or with marital problems andoffer advice and comfort.
No matter how small, it might just make allthe difference.
6.
Avoid boredomAccording to Schopenhauer: “The most general
survey shows us that the two foes of humanhappiness are pain and boredom.”
(15:25):
Boredom is the second enemy of living a happylife.
And it is one of the centrepieces of Schopenhauer’sphilosophy.
As soon as we get rid of pain, we are susceptibleto enter a state of boredom, which prevents
us from having a fulfilled life.
Arthur Schopenhauer is a pessimistic philosopher,he didn’t see happiness as a common state
(15:47):
for a human being, but rather as an extraordinaryand temporary moment.
His work focused not on happiness, but onpain and boredom.
As soon as you remove pain from your life,you will usually have boredom taking its place
and not pleasure.
We are perpetually in the pursuit of tryingto capture what we desire, need, or lack;
(16:11):
once we succeed in obtaining our goal, werealize it does not give the satisfaction
or happiness we had anticipated.
And off we go again, pursuing something elseto make us happy only to find ourselves back
to the very boredom we were trying to avoid.
Boredom is the state when you have everythingyou need and oftentimes leads to nihilism
(16:34):
and depression, because the force which pushedus to chase the desired material things - “the
will” can never be satisfied with what itgets.
That is why we often see famous people whohave absolutely everything in this life, but
they don’t really know how to maintain theirhappiness, they soon fall into boredom which
(16:56):
leads to nihilism and depression, they succumbto drugs, they divorce more often, they spend
their money in a careless way, or even commitsuicide.
In order to avoid this from happening, Schopenhauerrecommends us to concentrate less on the outside
world and more on the inside.
(17:17):
Less on possessions, less on how many carsyou have, how many houses, and basing your
worth on your wealth.
Only by ignoring the shiny objects of theexternal world, can you really escape from
oscillating around the pain-boredom axis.
To do that, you need to concentrate more onthe connection between your body and mind,
(17:41):
to have a more holistic approach to life,to be aware of each moment.
Meditation can help a lot in this, it helpsin becoming more conscious of the small things
that are essential in life, starting simplywith your breath.
Also, writing a gratitude journal each morning,counting all the blessings you have in life
(18:04):
can help you avoid taking things for granted.
A gratitude journal is a great shortcut formaintaining a fulfilled life, free from boredom,
with the only caveat being that you need tocount your inner blessings more, you need
to focus on your inner world, on your closerelationships, and not on the external world,
(18:25):
on possessions, success or fame.
7.
Make room for artIn our final quote from Schopenhauer for this
video, he tells us (18:37):
“The true work of art leads us from that which exists only once
and never again, i.e. the individual, to thatwhich exists perpetually and time and time
again in innumerable manifestations, the pureform or Idea.”
Schopenhauer was very much influenced by Plato,the ancient Greek philosopher.
(19:02):
Plato considered that we are like cavemen,we can see only the shadows of the real truths,
their manifestation in this world, and nottheir real essence.
Schopenhauer, by analogy, considered thatwe live in a world where the truth is distorted,
what we see is not the essence of reality,we can see only the shadows.
(19:26):
The Will to live is what keeps us prisonersin the cave, manipulating our lives like we're
some kind of puppet, keeping us in the cycleof pain and boredom.
There is one great way to temporarily escapefrom this cave, from our ordinary life, this
is through art.
For example, we can contemplate the beautyof a painting, listen to high quality music,
(19:52):
sculpting, photographing beautiful landscapesand people, doing anything which elevates
our souls and it is creative by nature.
Schopenhauer considered that music is thebest way to see the true essence of the world.
Scientists from Stanford did a lot of studieson the baroque music of the 18th century and
(20:14):
it was proven that by listening to baroquemusic the brain changes, baroque music of
the 18th century increases the level of awarenessand intelligence.
Even if you might not be a fan of 18th centurybaroque music, you can still follow Schopenhauer’s
advice to include as much real art as possiblein your life, because through art you can
(20:37):
liberate yourself from the ordinary desiresand needs, which keep you in pain or boredom.
Art has the quality to transcend reality andto connect us with the real spiritual essence
of this world.
If you enjoyed this video, please do makesure to check out the full Philosophies for
(20:58):
Life channel, and for more videos to helpyou find success and happiness using ancient
philosophical wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks so much for watching.
Arthur Schopenhauer is considered to be oneof the greatest philosophers of all time.
He lived from the end of the 18th to the beginningof the 19th century and while he is often
described as a genius philosopher, he hasalso been given less flattering monikers such
as The Sad Prince of pessimism and The Messengerof Misery, due to his particularly unique
(00:23):
philosophical views . He influenced the workof many great thinkers after him, from philosophers
to psychologists to physicists, includingSigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig
Wittgenstein, Albert Einstein and so manyothers.
Arthur Schopenhauer’s work is part of thephilosophy of pessimism
(00:45):
and Schopenhauer is mostly known for his famousbook “The World as Will and Representation”,
in which he describes the physical world asthe manifestation of an invisible force, a
metaphysical will.
Schopenhauer's philosophy is based on theidea that the world we perceive is not the
real world, we see reality through our ownpersonal filters, which Indian philosophy
(01:10):
calls "the veils of Maya" that prevent usfrom seeing “actual reality”.
Schopenhauer is one of the philosophers whopondered the most on subjects such as loneliness,
solitude, boredom and what true happinessmeans.
Although his views on life are known for beingextremely pessimistic, his work reveals a
(01:32):
deep wisdom which can teach us how to dealwith the most unpleasant episodes in our lives,
which is why in this video we bring you 7life lessons inspired by the philosophy of
Arthur Schopenhauer: 1. (01:44):
undefined
Find yourself in solitudeArthur Schopenhauer says: “We can only be
entirely ourselves as long as we are alone;therefore, whoever does not love solitude,
also does not love freedom; for only whenwe are alone, are we free.”
(02:10):
According to Schopenhauer, the capacity tobe alone is one of the most distinctive marks
of a high intellectual being.
Sociability has an inverse relationship withthe intellectual capacity of someone.
The more sociable we are, the less we caninvest in developing our intellectual capacity.
(02:30):
The less sociable we are, the more time wehave to reflect on the meaning of our existence,
on who we really are.
That is why Schopenhauer encourages us tolearn to be in solitude, to find that quiet
place in our minds where we can retreat andfind ourselves.
Our freedom exists only in our solitude, whenall the outside noise is shut down.
(02:55):
However, there is a danger associated withbeing lonely and a distinction must be made
between solitude and loneliness.
If loneliness means to be desperately in needto be with other people and to not be able
to be, solitude means that you made a consciouschoice to be by yourself and enjoy your own
(03:16):
company.
Schopenhauer doesn’t encourage us to withdrawfrom this world completely, he just emphasizes
that you need to learn to be by yourself,at least from time to time, in order to connect
with your greatest aspirations and inner nature.
To apply this lesson in our own lives, weneed to put aside more time to spend alone,
(03:39):
reading books, meditating, taking long walksoutside, and contemplating the world and our
existence.
Nowadays, with so many distracting forceslike social media, deadlines at work, we can
easily forget about our long-term goals.
Thus, we become prisoners of circumstance,we lose control of our own lives.
(04:03):
The best thing to do to avoid this is to prioritizethe time we allocate to ourselves.
We need to write “me-time” into our agenda, dedicated time in which we can retreat from
the outside world.
We could schedule a meditation walk to a nearbypark, or block a few hours to spend time writing
(04:23):
in a journal and to think on our goals inlife, or perhaps spending some time reading
a philosophy book which could give us newinsights into the world around us.
2.
Remove suffering to be happySchopenhauer tells us: “What is generally
called happiness is actually and essentiallyonly ever negative and absolutely never positive.”
(04:53):
Oftentimes Schopenhauer is described as aphilosopher who didn’t believe in the concept
of happiness.
This is far from the truth.
Schopenhauer didn’t link happiness withfeelings of joy, pleasure and ecstasy, which
he saw merely as ways to escape from boredomand negativity, but rather he saw in happiness
(05:14):
the absence of suffering in the first place.
For example, we are not aware of how healthywe are.
It is only when we start to feel some sortof pain, such as a headache or a stomach upset,
that we notice our bodies not operating asnormal.
In the same way, only when we experience acertain degree of emotional suffering, we
(05:36):
realize that we were happy before, but notanymore.
Given this simple fact, in order to be happy,what we need to do is to remember the happy
times we had in life, to evaluate where weare now, what kind of suffering we’re experiencing
at that moment and make the effort to removethat suffering.
(05:57):
To do that, we need to track our happy momentsand try to relive them as much as possible.
Also, when we experience something unpleasant,we should try to find methods to remove these
unpleasant experiences from our lives.
It can be a painful process to make all thosechanges, but it is incredibly worthwhile.
(06:19):
If we just focus on getting pleasure fromlife, it means we ignore the problems instead
of facing them until eventually they catchup with us once they have become significant
enough issues to be unavoidable.
But if we face our problems directly, insteadof ignoring them, we will be able to remove
the roots of suffering and we can increasethe amount of happiness we experience in our
(06:43):
lives.
For example, consider that you are workingin a miserable job that you hate, but you
can’t leave it because you need to pay therent and cover your bills.
One evening, after a long day at work, youstop in front of your favourite shop and you
see a stunning outfit in the window that youdesperately want to add to your collection
and you’re sure will make you feel better.
(07:06):
Instead of buying that outfit with your creditcard to please yourself for a brief moment,
you should try to reflect on the cause ofyour unhappiness.
In our example, you realise that you maketoo many sacrifices for a job that gives you
so little satisfaction so instead of the short-liveddopamine hit of an impulse shopping spree,
(07:27):
you could spend that money on further educationto open access to better jobs that will make
you happier in the long run or to start aside business like an eBay shop or YouTube
channel to shift focus away from your dayjob and begin to build a platform to help
you escape it permanently.
3.
Understand your subconscious mindTo quote Schopenhauer: “Man can do what
(07:51):
he wills but he cannot will what he wills.”
“Will” is the basis on which Schopenhauer'sphilosophy as a whole was built.
In his main book entitled "The World as Willand Representation", we understand from the
concept of will that it is a psychologicalforce that controls our actions.
(08:13):
We often find ourselves doing things automatically,like an invisible force controlling us.
This is what Schopenhauer calls “the will”- a blind and irrational force, which takes
over our minds in many life situations.
We often think we are in control of our actions,but actually there is something bigger than
(08:34):
ourselves which drives us.
We are like the rider on a big elephant - oursubconscious.
We, the conscious mind can only guide thiselephant, but we cannot fully control it.
The best thing to do is to become friendswith him, trying to understand him better,
what drives him, what scares him and guideshim on safe land.
(08:57):
We need to keep in mind we cannot force himto do anything, but we can help him achieve
his goals faster.
As a real life example, consider that youwant to lose weight.
You can try to force yourself to keep a rigiddiet, sweat for 2 hours every day in the gym,
but there is a great danger you will makeyour “elephant” angry and he will protest
(09:20):
in the most brutal way, deciding all of asudden to eat an entire chocolate cake at
the end of a difficult day at work.
Your elephant will get his revenge if youdo not treat him with kindness.
To avoid making your elephant angry, you shouldtry to introduce a new tiny habit each day,
for example today you can start eating onlyone slice of bread at each meal, tomorrow
(09:44):
you can walk for 10 minutes, the day aftertomorrow you can walk for 20 minutes and so
on.
Make the changes carefully and systematicallyif you want to see the long-term effects.
4.
Limit your expectationsSchopenhauer teaches us: “The safest way
(10:06):
of not being very miserable is to not expectto be very happy.”
Schopenhauer argues that a life with lesssuffering is much better than a life with
the greatest joys.
When we are young, we pursue our goals withenergy and anxiety, with the far stretched
ideals of happiness, chasing professionalambitions to be somebody in society, fighting
(10:31):
to be somebody we are not.
In other words, we put a lot of stress onourselves and our expectations are very high.
Nowadays, especially, the lifestyles of therich and famous are presented as a model to
follow, but, behind the scenes, they oftenfight with severe issues of drug abuse, depression
(10:52):
and anxiety.
We should stop chasing these kinds of ideals.
Instead of fighting to acquire or experiencethings to make us happy, we should focus on
minimizing the pain.
As we get older, a lot of us realize thispattern and start giving up the frantic pursuit
of happiness that kept us miserable in ouryounger years.
(11:14):
We start to focus on minimizing pain, ratherthan pursuing pleasures in life.
That invisible “will” which pushes ustowards an endless torture and letting the
desires run our lives, has less effect whenwe are older.
But, certainly, it is much better if we tryto practice limiting our expectations from
(11:34):
a younger age, to live more of those happieryears, without so much suffering.
To do this, we need to work on how we seethe world and how we see ourselves.
The way we see ourselves and the world isoftentimes the root of our unhappiness.
We need to be more realistic about our qualitiesand skills, we need to put our professional
(11:57):
goals on a more realistic scale.
Also, we need to be more compassionate towardsother people, have fewer expectations from
our partner, and stop demanding other peoplebe perfect.
It is far better to work on our real qualitiesand skills and develop them step by step,
(12:18):
than pretend we are something we are not inorder to achieve a higher position in our
job.
Also, it is far better to enjoy the companyof an imperfect partner than to change your
partner often in the pursuit of finding aperfect one.
To be happy, peaceful, and healthy is muchmore important than to be famous, adored or
(12:40):
having a partner as a trophy to show off.
Therefore, we need to limit our expectationsand learn to enjoy life as it is.
5.
Be compassionateSchopenhauer posits that: “Compassion is
the basis of morality.”
(13:01):
Schopenhauer believed that there are manyways to free a person from suffering, at the
same time saving him from the crisis of existence: one is the path of art, the path of austerity (13:06):
undefined
and non-desire, and another one is the pathof morals.
If art is a temporary remedy, the path ofmorals is a permanent remedy: consequently,
one must realize that happiness is not thegoal of life.
(13:29):
This is because life has no goal, and perhapssleep is the only moment when a person achieves
a natural state of happiness.
Our environment would be unbearable if wedidn’t have any moral guidance to navigate
through it.
We need to find meaning in this world andone of the most effective ways to find this
meaning is to learn to be compassionate towardsother human beings.
(13:54):
We should not pursue our happiness at thecost of other people.
In the end, we are all manifestations of theWill, we are all in this life together, and,
according to Schopenhauer, all moral actionscan be reduced to “injure no one; on the
contrary, help everyone as much as you can”.
(14:15):
In our daily lives, to show compassion andgood morals, we need to think of the people
around us every time we speak and act, wehave to make sure we do not injure anyone,
that our actions are fair and considerateto others.
Also, we have to do our best to help the peoplewho need help.
For sure, we can think of family members andfriends who are now in trouble, maybe they
(14:39):
do not have a job, maybe are struggling witha physical disease or condition, perhaps they
are having problems in their relationship.
It is not that difficult to put in a goodword with the company you are currently working
in for a friend applying for a job there.
It is not difficult to call them to ask howthey are doing, how they are coping with their
(15:00):
medical issues or with marital problems andoffer advice and comfort.
No matter how small, it might just make allthe difference.
6.
Avoid boredomAccording to Schopenhauer: “The most general
survey shows us that the two foes of humanhappiness are pain and boredom.”
(15:25):
Boredom is the second enemy of living a happylife.
And it is one of the centrepieces of Schopenhauer’sphilosophy.
As soon as we get rid of pain, we are susceptibleto enter a state of boredom, which prevents
us from having a fulfilled life.
Arthur Schopenhauer is a pessimistic philosopher,he didn’t see happiness as a common state
(15:47):
for a human being, but rather as an extraordinaryand temporary moment.
His work focused not on happiness, but onpain and boredom.
As soon as you remove pain from your life,you will usually have boredom taking its place
and not pleasure.
We are perpetually in the pursuit of tryingto capture what we desire, need, or lack;
(16:11):
once we succeed in obtaining our goal, werealize it does not give the satisfaction
or happiness we had anticipated.
And off we go again, pursuing something elseto make us happy only to find ourselves back
to the very boredom we were trying to avoid.
Boredom is the state when you have everythingyou need and oftentimes leads to nihilism
(16:34):
and depression, because the force which pushedus to chase the desired material things - “the
will” can never be satisfied with what itgets.
That is why we often see famous people whohave absolutely everything in this life, but
they don’t really know how to maintain theirhappiness, they soon fall into boredom which
(16:56):
leads to nihilism and depression, they succumbto drugs, they divorce more often, they spend
their money in a careless way, or even commitsuicide.
In order to avoid this from happening, Schopenhauerrecommends us to concentrate less on the outside
world and more on the inside.
(17:17):
Less on possessions, less on how many carsyou have, how many houses, and basing your
worth on your wealth.
Only by ignoring the shiny objects of theexternal world, can you really escape from
oscillating around the pain-boredom axis.
To do that, you need to concentrate more onthe connection between your body and mind,
(17:41):
to have a more holistic approach to life,to be aware of each moment.
Meditation can help a lot in this, it helpsin becoming more conscious of the small things
that are essential in life, starting simplywith your breath.
Also, writing a gratitude journal each morning,counting all the blessings you have in life
(18:04):
can help you avoid taking things for granted.
A gratitude journal is a great shortcut formaintaining a fulfilled life, free from boredom,
with the only caveat being that you need tocount your inner blessings more, you need
to focus on your inner world, on your closerelationships, and not on the external world,
(18:25):
on possessions, success or fame.
7.
Make room for artIn our final quote from Schopenhauer for this
video, he tells us (18:37):
“The true work of art leads us from that which exists only once
and never again, i.e. the individual, to thatwhich exists perpetually and time and time
again in innumerable manifestations, the pureform or Idea.”
Schopenhauer was very much influenced by Plato,the ancient Greek philosopher.
(19:02):
Plato considered that we are like cavemen,we can see only the shadows of the real truths,
their manifestation in this world, and nottheir real essence.
Schopenhauer, by analogy, considered thatwe live in a world where the truth is distorted,
what we see is not the essence of reality,we can see only the shadows.
(19:26):
The Will to live is what keeps us prisonersin the cave, manipulating our lives like we're
some kind of puppet, keeping us in the cycleof pain and boredom.
There is one great way to temporarily escapefrom this cave, from our ordinary life, this
is through art.
For example, we can contemplate the beautyof a painting, listen to high quality music,
(19:52):
sculpting, photographing beautiful landscapesand people, doing anything which elevates
our souls and it is creative by nature.
Schopenhauer considered that music is thebest way to see the true essence of the world.
Scientists from Stanford did a lot of studieson the baroque music of the 18th century and
(20:14):
it was proven that by listening to baroquemusic the brain changes, baroque music of
the 18th century increases the level of awarenessand intelligence.
Even if you might not be a fan of 18th centurybaroque music, you can still follow Schopenhauer’s
advice to include as much real art as possiblein your life, because through art you can
(20:37):
liberate yourself from the ordinary desiresand needs, which keep you in pain or boredom.
Art has the quality to transcend reality andto connect us with the real spiritual essence
of this world.
If you enjoyed this video, please do makesure to check out the full Philosophies for
(20:58):
Life channel, and for more videos to helpyou find success and happiness using ancient
philosophical wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks so much for watching.
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