AMONG 19th century philosophers，Arthur Schopenhauer was among the first to contend that at its core，the universe is not a rational place.
Schopenhauer developed an instinct-recognizing and ultimately ascetic outlook，emphasizing that in the face of a world Filled with endless strife，we ought to minimize our natural desires to achieve a more tranquil frame of mind and a disposition towards universal beneficence.
Since his death in 1860，his philosophy has had a special attraction for those who wonder about life's meaning，along with those engaged in music，literature，and the visual arts.
叔本华早年受惠于东方神秘主义哲学，特立独行，从根本上扭转r自柏拉图乃至康德等经典哲学家对世界的认识，见出人生的荒诞与丑怪，尽管我们由此失去了传统意义上温馨的、合于理式的宇宙，但叔本华标举人类所独有的意志，认为意志独立于时间与空间，人类只有在音乐、文学、艺术等审美活动才能获得解脱，这一观念在很大程度上塑造了尼采、柏格森、托尔斯泰、博尔赫斯等一大批思想家、文学家，直接开启弗洛伊德精神分析学派，影响所及，虽爱因斯坦、薛定谔等世界一流的物理学家亦不能免。
叔本华属于一身而兼有思辨与辞采的诗性哲学家，故而其著作在学界和一般大众中均具有广泛的读者。本书选取《人生的智慧》和《论人性》两部著作，是作者有关人生理论的菁华所在。
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAURER（1788-1860）was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity.At age 25，he published his doctoral dissertation，On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason，which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal world.
Schopenhauer's metaphysical analysis of will，his views on human motivation and desire，and his aphoristic writing style influenced many well-known thinkers including Friedrich Nietzsche，Richard
Wagner，Ludwig Wittgenstein，Erwin Schrodinger，Albert Einstein，Sigmund Freud，Otto Rank，Carl Gustav Jung，Leo Tolstoy，and Jorge Luis Borges.
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
PRELIMINARY
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
ON AUTHORSHIP AND STYLE
ON NOISE
ON READING AND BOOKS
THE EMPTINESS OF EXISTENCE
ON WOMEN
THINKING FOR ONESELF
SHORT DIALOGUE ON THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY
OF OUR TRUE BEING BY DEATH
RELIGION
PSYCHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
METAPHYSICS OF LOVE
PHYSIOGNOMY
ON SUICIDE
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
HUMAN NATURE
GOVERNMENT
FREE-WILL AND FATALISM
CHARACTER
MORAL INSTINCT
ETHICAL REFLECTIONS
Previously，there had been an obscure point in his knowledge of the world which had arisen through his omitting something in his early education，whether he had been either artificially educated by men or just naturally by his own experience.
Therefore one should try to find out the strictly natural course of knowledge，so that by keeping methodically to it children may become acquainted with the affairs of the world，without getting false ideas into their heads，which frequently cannot be driven out again.In carrying this out，one must next take care that children do not use words with which they connect no clear meaning.Even children have，as a rule，that unhappy tendency of being satisfied with words instead of wishing to understand things，and of learning words by heart，so that they may make use of them when they are in a difficulty.This tendency clings to them afterwards，so that the knowledge of many learned men becomes mere verbosity.
However，the prinapal thing must always be to let one's observations precede one's ideas，and not the reverse as is usually and unfortunately the case;which may be likened to a child coming into the world with its feet foremost，or a thyme begun before thinking of its reason.While the child's mind has made a very few observations one incukates it with ideas and opinions，which are，strictly speaking，prejudices.
His observations and experience are developed through this ready-made apparatus instead of his ideas being developed out of his own observations.In viewing the world one sees many things from many sides，consequently this is not such a short or quick way of learning as that which makes use of abstract ideas，and quickly comes to a decision about everything;therefore preconceived ideas will not be rectified until late，or it may be they are never rectified.For，when a man's view contradicts his ideas.
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