ABSTRACT
Arthur Schopenhauer was described by his contemporaries as egoistic, vain, arrogant, overbearing, and cynical. He was known to be so anxious that as an adult he always slept with a loaded pistol. His derogatory remarks about women are legendary.* His attacks on the noted professors of his time, especially Hegel, were equally vindictive.** In short, his approach to life and the people around him was as pessimistic as his philosophy. Yet he was a man of strong character and uncompromising honesty, who took great pleasure in the theater, in music, and in good food and wine. And ironically, he came to hold that only in sympathy for the sufferings of others and in ascetic holiness can one find release from overwhelming desire. As he was later to say, “I have taught what sainthood is, but I myself am no saint.”
