57 things from this book went into her brain. Here are the first 6.
Schopenhauer holds that what a person is, their inner make-up, shapes their happiness more than their surroundings, because we only ever experience the world through our own ideas and feelings.
Schopenhauer observes that a thoughtful person can find good company in their own thoughts, while a dull person stays bored even amid parties and amusements.
Schopenhauer notes that time wears away health, beauty and mental gifts, but moral character is untouched by it, so character is the part of us worth building.
Schopenhauer advises us to make the most of the qualities we have, choosing work and a way of life that calls them into play rather than leaving them idle.
Schopenhauer argues that beyond meeting real needs, wealth adds little to happiness, while mental culture gives a rich inner life that money cannot buy.
Schopenhauer holds that the pleasure we take in anything depends largely on who we are, since to a sour person even good things taste bitter.
Schopenhauer notes that misfortune from outside is easier to bear than trouble we bring on ourselves, because fortune can change but character cannot.
Schopenhauer calls good spirits the coin of happiness, a direct gain that lifts us in the present moment, so cheerfulness should be welcomed rather than held at arm's length.
Schopenhauer, quoting Epictetus, reminds us that people are shaped not by things themselves but by their thoughts about things, so one event can delight one person and trouble another.
Schopenhauer, following Plato, notes that the anxious person expects the worst and so meets fewer real disappointments, while the easy-going person finds more reasons to rejoice.
Schopenhauer sees pain and boredom as the two foes of happiness, and says inner wealth of mind is the best protection, since the richer the mind, the less room is left for boredom.
Schopenhauer observes that the more a person has within themselves, the less they need from other people, so a rich inner life brings a measure of independence.
Seneca observes that folly is its own burden, since a fool cannot escape their own company, while a person of talent fills even solitude with thought.
Schopenhauer distinguishes ordinary people, who only think how to spend their time, from thoughtful people, who try to use it, since idle leisure so often breeds boredom.
Schopenhauer holds that what one person can be to another is limited, so we must find our own contentment within, since in the end every person stands alone.
Schopenhauer, quoting Aristotle, says happiness means self-sufficiency, because pleasures from outside are uncertain and fade, while what we have within lasts longest.
Schopenhauer warns against sacrificing the inner life for the outer, trading quiet, leisure and independence for rank and show, since the wise guard the springs of happiness they carry within.
Schopenhauer, following Aristotle, holds that every pleasure needs some activity of our powers, so unused gifts become a burden and people chase distractions to escape boredom.
Schopenhauer ranks the pleasures of thought, learning and culture above those of bodily appetite, because the nobler the power we use, the greater and more lasting the pleasure it gives.
Schopenhauer says a life of the mind deepens over time like a work of art, whereas a life devoted only to comfort can broaden but never deepen.
Schopenhauer, quoting Seneca, says leisure without learning is a kind of living tomb, and that a life of the mind guards us against boredom and the costly company boredom invites.
Schopenhauer uses the image of a centre of gravity: if our happiness rests on things outside us, it keeps shifting with every wish, but a person whose centre lies within stays steady.
Schopenhauer, quoting Aristotle, says the free exercise of any power is happiness, and Goethe agrees that we find our greatest happiness in using the talent we were meant to use.
Schopenhauer admits the other side too: a great mind feels pain more keenly and may find ordinary company shallow, so every gift carries its own cost.
Epicurus, as Schopenhauer retells him, divides our needs into the necessary, the natural but less pressing, and the endless needs of luxury and show, which are the hardest to satisfy.
Schopenhauer notes that happiness depends on the gap between what we want and what we expect, so riches, like sea water, leave us thirstier, while a person with modest hopes can be content.
Schopenhauer observes that discontent springs from raising our claims faster than we can satisfy them, so contentment often means adjusting our demands to what we can reach.
Schopenhauer values independence as the freedom to say that this day is one's own, but warns that a person with means who does nothing with their time will find boredom a misery of its own.
Schopenhauer warns that being a slave to others' opinions, whether flattering or hurtful, undermines our peace of mind and independence, so we should temper our craving for praise.
Schopenhauer suggests that what others think of us lives in their minds, not ours, and that treating their opinions as too precious is paying them too much honour.
Schopenhauer insists that our real existence is in our own skin, not in other people's opinions, so our temperament, relationships and daily life matter far more than applause.
Schopenhauer says many people reverse the natural order, treating others' opinions as real and their own inner life as shadowy, which he calls vanity, like a miser who forgets the end in chasing the means.
Schopenhauer argues that many of life's worries come from anxiety about what others will say, and that much of our show and pride rests on this same fear.
Schopenhauer's remedy is to recognise that most opinions in people's heads are unreliable and that honour has only an indirect value, so a quieter, more private life brings real peace of mind.
Schopenhauer separates pride, a conviction of our own worth that works from within, from vanity, which seeks that conviction from others, and notes that quiet confidence often earns more respect than constant talk.
Schopenhauer defines honour as other people's opinion of our worth on one side, and the respect we give that opinion on the other, and notes that a person alone can accomplish little, like a castaway.
Schopenhauer notes that nothing gives a person more courage than knowing others regard them with goodwill, since that regard brings help and protection against life's troubles.
Schopenhauer holds that honour rests on the belief that character is unalterable, so once trust is broken it is hard to win back, unless the loss came from a mistake or from slander.
Schopenhauer notes that honour is something we keep by what we do and leave undone, unlike fame, which must be won, so honour lies largely within our own power.
Schopenhauer shows the folly of a code of honour in which any insult defines a person, handing a good person's worth to the most careless tongue, so judge yourself by your own conduct instead.
Schopenhauer recalls Socrates meeting a kick with calm, asking whether he should resent a donkey's kick, and treating an abuser's words as not really aimed at him.
Seneca advises that when a wise person is insulted, they should simply let it pass rather than flare up or seek revenge, since the insult says more about the one who gives it.
Schopenhauer observes that a person who knows they have done nothing wrong can meet a baseless accusation with contempt, since a real fault stings far more than a false charge.
Schopenhauer holds that a true sense of our own worth makes us largely indifferent to insult, since real worth cannot be lost through a rude word.
Schopenhauer distinguishes honour, which anyone can earn by doing what is expected of them, from fame, which comes only through extraordinary achievement.
Schopenhauer notes that actions are fleeting, while a lasting work of thought or art keeps speaking to people across the ages, so he values the work of the head over the deed alone.
Seneca, quoted by Schopenhauer, says fame follows merit as surely as a body casts a shadow, sometimes in front and sometimes behind, though envious silence may delay it.
Schopenhauer, with Goethe, notes that our finest thoughts can fall flat before minds that cannot take them in, so we should not be discouraged, since even a stone thrown into a marsh can make no rings.
Schopenhauer observes that those who work from love of their subject, rather than from ambition for fame, are the ones who leave lasting work behind.
Schopenhauer says fame is only a measure of what a person is compared with others, so it is worth less than the great heart or great head that deserves it.
Schopenhauer reminds us that every person lives mainly in and for themselves, so what they are matters more than the ideas other people form of them, and other people's heads are a poor home for true happiness.
Schopenhauer holds that a person is made happy not by fame but by the merit that brings it, so someone who deserves fame without receiving it still has the more important part of happiness.
Schopenhauer says the value of lasting recognition lies in deserving it, and that this is its own reward, since praise from a crowd is often no more than the echo of a few voices.
Schopenhauer finds great consolation in age in having put the full force of one's youth into work that still remains alive, like a plant that is green in winter.
Schopenhauer encourages people who lack the highest powers but have sound judgment to take up laborious study, since patient work lifts a person above the crowd who see the facts without ever examining them.
Schopenhauer advises a person of great mental powers to look broadly at nature and human life rather than lose themselves in narrow specialties, since everyday life supplies material for serious and true thought.
