“ Life is assured to the will to live; the form of life is an endless present, no matter how the individuals, the phenomena of the Idea, arise and pass away in time, like fleeting dreams. ”
Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation (1819). copy citation
Author | Arthur Schopenhauer |
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Source | The World as Will and Representation |
Topic | present life |
Date | 1819 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | Translated by R. B. Haldane and J. Kemp |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38427/38427-h/38427-h.html |
Context
“The cool shades of Orcus allure him only with the false appearance of a haven of rest. The earth rolls from day into night, the individual dies, but the sun itself shines without intermission, an eternal noon. Life is assured to the will to live; the form of life is an endless present, no matter how the individuals, the phenomena of the Idea, arise and pass away in time, like fleeting dreams. Thus even already suicide appears to us as a vain and therefore a foolish action; when we have carried our investigation further it will appear to us in a still less favourable light.
Dogmas change and our knowledge is deceptive;”
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