Introduction·11

Chapter 1.
“Life and Virtue”

01 “Everyone is afraid, but courage is a choice.”
The Fairness of Fear·16

02 “What depends on me is honor.”
An Honorable Life·19

03 “Error deceives reason, illusion deceives understanding.”
Errors and Illusions·22

04 “A wise man conceals his wickedness, but a fool exposes it.”
The Most Dangerous Person·26

05 “All life continues on the sacrifice of others.”
Responsible Living·30

06 “A rich mind needs freedom and leisure.”
Mental Health and Rest·34

07 “If philosophy deals only with abstract concepts, it becomes distant from life.”
The Meaning of Philosophy·38

08 “Hesitation comes not from deep thought, but from deep fear.”
Reasons for Hesitation·41

09 “Cheerfulness is the currency of happiness.”
Painkiller·44

10 “Health is a greater asset than wealth.”
The Root of Happiness·47

11 “The nobler the pleasure, the deeper the joy.”
Low Pleasure and High Pleasure·50

12 “Excessive passion is not a stimulus, but a corruption.”
The Paradox of Passion·54

13 “Those who have experienced poverty fear it less.”
Mental Toughness·57

14 “Wealth without moderation is a vanishing mirage.”
Guardian of Wealth·61

15 “Wisdom requires time to mature.”
Roots of Wisdom·64

16 “The size of the body gets smaller as it gets farther away, and the size of the mind gets bigger as it gets farther away.”
Mental and physical size·67

17 “Reason is the light that illuminates the future.”
Reason, the Quiet Prophet·71

18 “A truly great person knows how to reveal his weaknesses.”
Characteristics of a Great Person·75

19 “All actions and choices in life are determined by habits.”
The Invisible Force That Rules Life·78

20 “Hasty generalizations leave permanent scars on life.”
Scars of Life·81

21 “Man cannot escape his own nature.”
Living in Accord with Your Nature · 85

Chapter 2: “Desire and Relationships”

22 “Everyone lives behind a mask.”
The Real Face Behind the Mask·90

23 “Courtesy is nothing more than hypocrisy that conceals selfishness.”
The Trap of Etiquette·93

24 “Greed is the final stop where all desires converge.”
Desire and Greed·96

25 “Every flaw is perfect in a way.”
The Duality of Nature·99

26 “Moral corruption and intellectual incompetence are fundamentally different.”
The Need for Insight·103

27 “Humans are by nature terribly savage beasts.”
Inherent Cruelty·106

28 “The world cannot exist without me, and I cannot exist without the world.”
A Distance That Will Never Be Reached·110

29 “There is only one thing that can never be fulfilled: human desire.”
An Unfillable Bowl·114

30 “Knowing something is wrong is more evil than doing something wrong.”
Moral Responsibility·117

31 “The closer we get, the more we hurt each other. That’s what it means to be human.”
The Hedgehog's Dilemma · 120

32 “Trust once broken never returns.”
The Importance of Trust·124

33 “Too much familiarity destroys respect.”
The Harm of Familiarity·127

34 “Vanity comes from the eyes of others, pride comes from my own heart.”
Applause from Others·130

35 “When you love, everything looks beautiful; when you hate, everything looks ugly.”
What Love and Hate Have in Common: 133

36 “Hatred grows in the heart, contempt in the head.”
The Difference Between Heart and Contempt·136

37 “Parting is a small death, and meeting is a miracle of rebirth.”
Meeting and Parting·140

38 “It is worse to make decisions without advice than to dress up without a mirror.”
Good Advice·143

Chapter 3 “Perspectives and Attitudes”

39 “The world is nothing but a picture drawn by my mind.”
The Importance of the Mind·148

40 “Not everything has a good reason.”
Obsession with Reason·152

41 “Life and dreams are different pages in the same book.”
The Book of Life·156

42 “Pleasure is never as pleasant as expected, and pain is always more painful than expected.”
Pleasure and Pain·160

43 “Everything exists to disappear.”
The Beauty of Finitude·164

44 “The truth of life is piecing together pieces.”
The Puzzle of Life·168

45 “The truly important answers to life lie within me.”
The Center of the Answer·171

46 “The common is actually more difficult.”
The Most Difficult Thing to Understand·174

47 “Any worthwhile success in life must be achieved through conflict and struggle.”
Conflict and Victory·177

48 “Happiness doesn’t come easily.”
The Pursuit of Happiness·181

49 “Fate does not spare the weak.”
Weakness and Fate·185

50 “The true nature of the world can never be known through human senses alone.”
Eyes on the World·189

51 “Those who explain everything in terms of material ultimately forget that they are the subject of the world.”
The Reason for Living·193

52 “Animals who live only in the present are happier than humans who live in the past and future.”
The Cause of Pain·197

53 “I already have the answer, but I’m lost because I don’t know the question.”
Stone and Flint·201

54 “The way you connect your thoughts determines your level of intelligence.”
The Way We Connect Our Thoughts·204

55 “If you think about it too long, it becomes blurry.”
The Illusion of Depth·208

56 “Place the center of your life within yourself.”
The Center of Life·212

57 “Depression is attractive, but discomfort is repulsive.”
The Difference Between Depression and Discomfort·215

58 “The limits of the world are the limits of my vision.”
Cognitive Bias·219

59 “The essence of life is fundamentally disappointment and disillusionment.”
The Gap Between Reality and Dreams·223

60 “With each passing day, the wealth of life diminishes by one day.”
The Eternity of Life·227

An introductory book to Schopenhauer chosen by 150,000 readers,
Return deeper and closer

This book is a sequel to Schopenhauer's Life Lessons, which sold over 150,000 copies.
The previous work was loved by many readers because it was composed in a way that anyone could understand Schopenhauer's short and powerful sentences, along with their background and thoughts.
If Part 1 was a basic lesson on the 'essence of life' learned directly from Schopenhauer, Part 2 is a practical part that applies those teachings to today's life.
While maintaining the strengths of its predecessor, which were easy explanations and excellent readability, this time it considers 'how to actually live'.
The main text of the book interprets Schopenhauer's key sentences by connecting them to specific scenes from life.
It helps readers bring philosophy into their lives by posing questions for them to ponder and suggesting attitudes they can put into practice in their daily lives.
Even readers who haven't read Part 1 will find that anyone—a young person seeking direction in life, an office worker weary of interpersonal relationships, or a middle-aged person feeling powerless in their daily lives—can reflect on themselves and gain the strength to sustain life from this book.

Schopenhauer's straightforward, solid, and life-sustaining teachings

“The essence of life is disappointment and disillusionment.”
“The world is narrow because my vision is narrow.”
“Animals are happier than humans.”
“Everyone lives according to the food they were born with.”

The years 2023 and 2024 were dubbed "Schopenhauer Years," as his philosophy garnered significant attention, and the craze continues into 2025. His prose is even consumed as memes on social media and YouTube.
But this book goes beyond such fragmentary trends and clearly shows why we need to read Schopenhauer properly now.
Everyone gets lost and wanders as they live.
Worries are endless, and pain is always with you.
Many people offer comfort with warm words, but the power of comfort does not last long.
No matter how warm your words are, if you don't properly understand the essence of life, they will eventually become empty again.


Schopenhauer does not idealize life.
We do not package our lives with nice words, nor do we hastily comfort others.
He delves into the essence of life that everyone ignores, and speaks the truth that others are reluctant to speak.
Once you understand Schopenhauer's sentences properly, many comforting words lose their meaning.
Roots and pillars for living life are formed, and an inner strength is created that will not crumble in the face of the pain that will come again.
This book doesn't just stop at 'understanding' philosophy.
Through philosophy, we ask ourselves again, “How should we live?” and are led to find the answer in our own way.
This book offers readers the strength to live as themselves, a firmness that comes from a deep understanding of oneself rather than from someone else's comfort, an attitude that does not crumble while accepting that life's pain never ends.
Schopenhauer, a philosopher respected by numerous thinkers and artists, including Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Einstein, and Freud.
If you want to encounter his true teachings in the easiest and fastest way, this book will be the best guide.