Aphorismen zur lebensweisheit(Arthur Schopenhauer)

 1. Let's look at life from afar

The scenes of our lives are like rough mosaics that make no impression when seen up close. You have to look at them from afar to realize that they are beautiful. In the same way, as soon as we get what we desire, we realize that it is empty and worthless.

Schopenhauer's Theory of Life - p. 81

If we think about life hastily and become rich right away, we will quickly become beggars because we have never become rich through our own efforts.

In the end, if I don't achieve it, it is not mine, and even if I get something I can't handle, I will soon return to my original state.

I think we need to examine our own vessel well and know how much we can handle and how to make our vessel bigger.

One right action may seem small right now.

But I think that if it accumulates and the right habits and thoughts accumulate, it will eventually go in a good direction.

If you split up your time right now and create something, it will eventually become something bigger later.

Instead of thinking hastily, how about slowly completing your own mosaic?

2. Create your own views (values) through reading

Those who think for themselves first establish their own views and only learn other people's theories to solidify those views. However, those who philosophize through reading start from other people's theories and collect their views to create their own views.

Schopenhauer's Theory of Life - p. 199

I think that those who philosophize through reading are similar to the way I am doing it now.

While reading books, I continue to collect various people's views, and within those, I combine and refine the views that match my own views to create my own views. In the study head reading method, 'Children who have been exposed to private education for a long time have a significantly lower ability to study on their own' - Study Head Reading Method: p. 58

I modified the view that was explained as 'Private education is training wheels' to my own view and added my own opinion.

I think that if I hear many people's opinions like this (read a lot), I can change them to my own more correct and better views.

That is why my views up to now are ongoing.

As I grow more, my views will also be revised and I will change my course to go in a more correct direction.

That is why I will not say that all my opinions are correct, and I think that this is a time for my views to continue to grow.

3. Always have a good and kind heart

A good, moderate, and gentle person can be satisfied even in a poor environment, but a greedy, jealous, and malicious person cannot be satisfied even in great wealth. Schopenhauer's Theory of Life - 235p

I think that humans are animals that want more even if they have billions of dollars because their greed is endless.

I also think that it is similar to today's society.

There has never been a time in human history that was as abundant, safe, and technologically advanced as it is now.

As I mentioned in the previous Factfulness (author: Hans Rosling), 200 years ago, many people starved to death, many children died from diseases, the crime rate was enormous, and there were many deaths due to war.

However, now, due to the development of the economy, medicine, science, and society, there are almost no people who do not have a smartphone, and thanks to vaccinations, children who die from diseases have almost disappeared, and even people who starve to death are now almost gone.

That is why if we let go of greed, jealousy, and malice, we can find a ray of hope and light in our current environment, and our attitude toward life will change.

And the reason I know this is because I realized that I had been steeped in greed all this time. The more pessimistic you look at your current situation, the more pessimistic your life becomes, and if you look at it positively, it will change positively.

It was my wife who made me realize this, and I think I started living a new life thanks to my wife.

I was able to realize that my life, which I thought was unhappy, was not in fact unhappy, and that everything I had up until then was greed.

(Greed) The problem is that I keep demanding things even though I already have them,

(Jealousy) I feel more unhappy because I live only comparing myself to others,

(Maliciousness) The wrong idea that I want others to be unhappy because I am unhappy makes not only myself but also the whole person sick.

I think it would be good to stop comparing your current situation to others and think about how you should live and how you should live to be happier, and then lead to good actions.

4. Being healthy is the best.

If you are healthy, everything can be joyful, but if you are not healthy, you will not be able to feel joy no matter how many external resources you have, and your subjective resources (mental ability, character, personality, etc.) will also be significantly diminished. Schopenhauer's Philosophy of Life - 247p

Like Schopenhauer, I always think that health is the most important.

If you are not healthy, you cannot maintain a sound mind, and if you cannot maintain a mind, you cannot make the right choices, and wrong choices will eventually lead to your own unhappiness.

Also, you cannot feel the happiness of eating and drinking healthy food, and you can feel that everything is happy.

For example, let's say your teeth are decayed and you are sick.

The food that you always ate happily and deliciously will come back as pain.

If you have a cold, no action will be enjoyable or happy.

If you have a fatal illness, will you be happy for the rest of your life?

And will you be able to make good choices?

If you have tens or hundreds of billions of dollars to spend, and you get a fatal illness and die within a week, will your life really be happy?

That's why I think it's good to always make efforts for something, but you should make efforts that don't cause problems for your health.

5. In the end, most of it is related to money.

The civilized world is nothing more than a big masquerade ball. You meet many people in this world, including knights, priests, soldiers, doctors, lawyers, and philosophers. However, their appearances are not their true selves. Their appearances are nothing more than masks, and behind those masks are always hidden wealthy people who are always raking in money.

Schopenhauer's Theory of Life - p. 379

The civilized world today is capitalism.

We have made it possible for most people to avoid starvation or illness through the profits of capitalism, and anyone with money can enjoy good services and benefits regardless of class.

The downside is that fraud is rampant and there are always many products that target your pockets.

Some people are fooled by someone's appearance and lose their money, and the advertisements we always see on SNS or TV are all screaming for you to buy their products.

The reason products are better and more convenient for users is because they make money.

The reason fraud and smishing are developed is also because they make money.

We are constantly exposed to various products and frauds.

That is why we absolutely need the ability to discern them while living in a capitalist society.

In order to discern it, you must always recognize that there is no such thing as free in the world, and that there are no benefits just for you.

What is the typical pattern of scammers?

They make it known that they are important people and pretend to give special benefits only to you.

The person who is being scammed is also blinded by greed (thinking that it is a special benefit only for him) and gives money to the scammer.

In the end, if greed is reduced, the scam will not work, and the scammers will starve to death and eventually disappear from this world.

Of course, that will not happen, but I hope that a wise person will never misunderstand and think that it is a special benefit only for him.