Tag Archives: Arthur Schopenhauer

Nicholas Rescher

Since his philosophical writing adopted selflessness and self-abnegation, whereas Schopenhauer himself led the life of a self-centered curmudgeon in affluent comfort, the charge of hypocrisy and inconsistency was made against him.

Schopenhauer replied that it sufficed for a philosopher to examine the human condition and determine the best form of life for man: that he should also provide an example of it in his own proceedings was asking far too much.

Schopenhauer vividly illustrates the irony of the human condition where all too often the intellect acknowledges the advantage of going where the will is unwilling to follow. And since this tension between intellect and will was the keystone of his philosophy, Schopenhauer’s proceedings did perhaps manage after all to provide that example of living by one’s doctrine.

Nicholas Rescher, A Journey Through Philosophy in 101 Anecdotes, Pittsburgh, 2015, p. 167

Albert Einstein

Ich glaube nicht an die Freiheit des Willens. Schopenhauers Wort: ‘Der Mensch kann wohl tun, was er will, aber er kann nicht wollen, was er will’, begleitet mich in allen Lebenslagen und versöhnt mich mit den Handlungen der Menschen, auch wenn sie mir recht schmerzlich sind. Diese Erkenntnis von der Unfreiheit des Willens schützt mich davor, mich selbst und die Mitmenschen als handelnde und urteilende Individuen allzu ernst zu nehmen und den guten Humor zu verlieren.

Albert Einstein, ‘Mein Glaubensbekenntnis’, 1932

Ira Gershwin

Why did I wander here and there and yonder,
Wasting precious time for no reason or rhyme?
Isn’t it a pity? Isn’t it a crime?
My journey’s ended, everything is splendid;
Meeting you today
Has given me a wonderful idea – here I stay.

It’s a funny thing –
I look at you, I get a thrill I never knew.
Isn’t it a pity we never met before?

Here we are at last –
It’s like a dream, the two of us a perfect team.
Isn’t it a pity we never met before?

Imagine all the lonely years we’ve wasted
You with the neighbors, I at silly labors –
What joys untasted,
You reading Heine, me somewhere in China.

Let’s forget the past;
Let’s both agree that I’m for you and you’re for me
And it’s such a pity we never, never met before.

Imagine all the lonely year’s we’ve wasted,
Fishing for salmon, losing at backgammon.
What joys untasted,
My nights were sour spent with Schopenhauer.

Let’s forget the past;
Let’s both agree that I’m for you and you’re for me
And it’s such a pity we never, never met before.

Ira Gershwin, ‘Isn’t it a Pity’, 1993