“In these pages, I will talk about the Wisdom of Life in the usual sense of the word, as the art of organizing our lives in such a way as to derive the greatest possible enjoyment and success; an art whose theory we can call Eudaimonology, as it teaches us how to exist happily. If we look at it from a purely objective standpoint, or better yet after calm and mature reflection – since the issue necessarily involves subjective assessments – a happy existence may perhaps be defined as the existence we would clearly prefer over non-existence, which implies that we should insist on it for its own sake and not merely out of a fear of death and furthermore, to never wish for it to come to an end.”

Schopenhauer is one of the few philosophers who can be understood without interpretative notes. He claims that all his theories arise directly from life itself, that they draw inspiration from observation, and that they interpret the world as it is; and that, whatever his viewpoint may be, he insists on invoking the experience of everyday life.

“All philosophy is in a way the attempt to find a unifying principle, to discover the most general idea that governs the entire field of nature and knowledge. Based on one of these bold generalizations that often signify real progress in science, Schopenhauer conceived that this unifying principle, this underlying unity consists of something analogous to will, which is revealed to us through self-consciousness.”

From the preface by T. Bailey Saunders