1 00:00:00,580 --> 00:00:06,240 Arthur Schopenhauer is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers of all time. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:11,420 He lived from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century and while he is often 3 00:00:11,420 --> 00:00:16,670 described as a genius philosopher, he has also been given less flattering monikers such 4 00:00:16,670 --> 00:00:23,050 as The Sad Prince of pessimism and The Messenger of Misery, due to his particularly unique 5 00:00:23,050 --> 00:00:29,779 philosophical views . He influenced the work of many great thinkers after him, from philosophers 6 00:00:29,779 --> 00:00:35,970 to psychologists to physicists, including Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig 7 00:00:35,970 --> 00:00:40,340 Wittgenstein, Albert Einstein and so many others. 8 00:00:40,340 --> 00:00:45,290 Arthur Schopenhauer’s work is part of the philosophy of pessimism 9 00:00:45,290 --> 00:00:51,610 and Schopenhauer is mostly known for his famous book “The World as Will and Representation”, 10 00:00:51,610 --> 00:00:57,380 in which he describes the physical world as the manifestation of an invisible force, a 11 00:00:57,380 --> 00:00:59,720 metaphysical will. 12 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,120 Schopenhauer's philosophy is based on the idea that the world we perceive is not the 13 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:10,550 real world, we see reality through our own personal filters, which Indian philosophy 14 00:01:10,550 --> 00:01:17,050 calls "the veils of Maya" that prevent us from seeing “actual reality”. 15 00:01:17,050 --> 00:01:22,900 Schopenhauer is one of the philosophers who pondered the most on subjects such as loneliness, 16 00:01:22,900 --> 00:01:27,310 solitude, boredom and what true happiness means. 17 00:01:27,310 --> 00:01:32,700 Although his views on life are known for being extremely pessimistic, his work reveals a 18 00:01:32,700 --> 00:01:38,100 deep wisdom which can teach us how to deal with the most unpleasant episodes in our lives, 19 00:01:38,100 --> 00:01:44,830 which is why in this video we bring you 7 life lessons inspired by the philosophy of 20 00:01:44,830 --> 00:01:48,950 Arthur Schopenhauer: 1. 21 00:01:48,950 --> 00:01:55,229 Find yourself in solitude Arthur Schopenhauer says: “We can only be 22 00:01:55,229 --> 00:02:03,020 entirely ourselves as long as we are alone; therefore, whoever does not love solitude, 23 00:02:03,020 --> 00:02:10,200 also does not love freedom; for only when we are alone, are we free.” 24 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:15,560 According to Schopenhauer, the capacity to be alone is one of the most distinctive marks 25 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,930 of a high intellectual being. 26 00:02:18,930 --> 00:02:24,350 Sociability has an inverse relationship with the intellectual capacity of someone. 27 00:02:24,350 --> 00:02:30,350 The more sociable we are, the less we can invest in developing our intellectual capacity. 28 00:02:30,350 --> 00:02:35,849 The less sociable we are, the more time we have to reflect on the meaning of our existence, 29 00:02:35,849 --> 00:02:38,260 on who we really are. 30 00:02:38,260 --> 00:02:44,170 That is why Schopenhauer encourages us to learn to be in solitude, to find that quiet 31 00:02:44,170 --> 00:02:48,400 place in our minds where we can retreat and find ourselves. 32 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:55,319 Our freedom exists only in our solitude, when all the outside noise is shut down. 33 00:02:55,319 --> 00:03:00,959 However, there is a danger associated with being lonely and a distinction must be made 34 00:03:00,959 --> 00:03:04,520 between solitude and loneliness. 35 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:10,040 If loneliness means to be desperately in need to be with other people and to not be able 36 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:16,980 to be, solitude means that you made a conscious choice to be by yourself and enjoy your own 37 00:03:16,980 --> 00:03:19,310 company. 38 00:03:19,310 --> 00:03:24,680 Schopenhauer doesn’t encourage us to withdraw from this world completely, he just emphasizes 39 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:30,350 that you need to learn to be by yourself, at least from time to time, in order to connect 40 00:03:30,350 --> 00:03:33,060 with your greatest aspirations and inner nature. 41 00:03:33,060 --> 00:03:39,910 To apply this lesson in our own lives, we need to put aside more time to spend alone, 42 00:03:39,910 --> 00:03:45,819 reading books, meditating, taking long walks outside, and contemplating the world and our 43 00:03:45,819 --> 00:03:47,090 existence. 44 00:03:47,090 --> 00:03:54,180 Nowadays, with so many distracting forces like social media, deadlines at work, we can 45 00:03:54,180 --> 00:03:57,209 easily forget about our long-term goals. 46 00:03:57,209 --> 00:04:03,790 Thus, we become prisoners of circumstance, we lose control of our own lives. 47 00:04:03,790 --> 00:04:09,910 The best thing to do to avoid this is to prioritize the time we allocate to ourselves. 48 00:04:09,910 --> 00:04:16,400 We need to write “me-time” into our agenda , dedicated time in which we can retreat from 49 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,229 the outside world. 50 00:04:18,229 --> 00:04:23,930 We could schedule a meditation walk to a nearby park, or block a few hours to spend time writing 51 00:04:23,930 --> 00:04:29,590 in a journal and to think on our goals in life, or perhaps spending some time reading 52 00:04:29,590 --> 00:04:35,280 a philosophy book which could give us new insights into the world around us. 53 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:37,099 2. 54 00:04:37,099 --> 00:04:43,229 Remove suffering to be happy Schopenhauer tells us: “What is generally 55 00:04:43,229 --> 00:04:53,150 called happiness is actually and essentially only ever negative and absolutely never positive.” 56 00:04:53,150 --> 00:04:57,990 Oftentimes Schopenhauer is described as a philosopher who didn’t believe in the concept 57 00:04:57,990 --> 00:04:59,740 of happiness. 58 00:04:59,740 --> 00:05:02,680 This is far from the truth. 59 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:08,029 Schopenhauer didn’t link happiness with feelings of joy, pleasure and ecstasy, which 60 00:05:08,029 --> 00:05:14,460 he saw merely as ways to escape from boredom and negativity, but rather he saw in happiness 61 00:05:14,460 --> 00:05:17,589 the absence of suffering in the first place. 62 00:05:17,589 --> 00:05:21,740 For example, we are not aware of how healthy we are. 63 00:05:21,740 --> 00:05:27,300 It is only when we start to feel some sort of pain, such as a headache or a stomach upset, 64 00:05:27,300 --> 00:05:30,360 that we notice our bodies not operating as normal. 65 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:36,210 In the same way, only when we experience a certain degree of emotional suffering, we 66 00:05:36,210 --> 00:05:40,349 realize that we were happy before, but not anymore. 67 00:05:40,349 --> 00:05:45,940 Given this simple fact, in order to be happy, what we need to do is to remember the happy 68 00:05:45,940 --> 00:05:52,479 times we had in life, to evaluate where we are now, what kind of suffering we’re experiencing 69 00:05:52,479 --> 00:05:57,490 at that moment and make the effort to remove that suffering. 70 00:05:57,490 --> 00:06:03,629 To do that, we need to track our happy moments and try to relive them as much as possible. 71 00:06:03,629 --> 00:06:09,949 Also, when we experience something unpleasant, we should try to find methods to remove these 72 00:06:09,949 --> 00:06:12,869 unpleasant experiences from our lives. 73 00:06:12,869 --> 00:06:19,740 It can be a painful process to make all those changes, but it is incredibly worthwhile. 74 00:06:19,740 --> 00:06:25,069 If we just focus on getting pleasure from life, it means we ignore the problems instead 75 00:06:25,069 --> 00:06:30,100 of facing them until eventually they catch up with us once they have become significant 76 00:06:30,100 --> 00:06:32,210 enough issues to be unavoidable. 77 00:06:32,210 --> 00:06:38,689 But if we face our problems directly, instead of ignoring them, we will be able to remove 78 00:06:38,689 --> 00:06:43,490 the roots of suffering and we can increase the amount of happiness we experience in our 79 00:06:43,490 --> 00:06:44,740 lives. 80 00:06:44,740 --> 00:06:50,319 For example, consider that you are working in a miserable job that you hate, but you 81 00:06:50,319 --> 00:06:54,550 can’t leave it because you need to pay the rent and cover your bills. 82 00:06:54,550 --> 00:06:59,110 One evening, after a long day at work, you stop in front of your favourite shop and you 83 00:06:59,110 --> 00:07:03,419 see a stunning outfit in the window that you desperately want to add to your collection 84 00:07:03,419 --> 00:07:06,449 and you’re sure will make you feel better. 85 00:07:06,449 --> 00:07:11,330 Instead of buying that outfit with your credit card to please yourself for a brief moment, 86 00:07:11,330 --> 00:07:15,129 you should try to reflect on the cause of your unhappiness. 87 00:07:15,129 --> 00:07:20,050 In our example, you realise that you make too many sacrifices for a job that gives you 88 00:07:20,050 --> 00:07:27,110 so little satisfaction so instead of the short-lived dopamine hit of an impulse shopping spree, 89 00:07:27,110 --> 00:07:31,960 you could spend that money on further education to open access to better jobs that will make 90 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:36,979 you happier in the long run or to start a side business like an eBay shop or YouTube 91 00:07:36,979 --> 00:07:41,369 channel to shift focus away from your day job and begin to build a platform to help 92 00:07:41,369 --> 00:07:43,550 you escape it permanently. 93 00:07:43,550 --> 00:07:45,099 3. 94 00:07:45,099 --> 00:07:51,639 Understand your subconscious mind To quote Schopenhauer: “Man can do what 95 00:07:51,639 --> 00:07:55,870 he wills but he cannot will what he wills.” 96 00:07:55,870 --> 00:08:01,330 “Will” is the basis on which Schopenhauer's philosophy as a whole was built. 97 00:08:01,330 --> 00:08:07,529 In his main book entitled "The World as Will and Representation", we understand from the 98 00:08:07,529 --> 00:08:13,449 concept of will that it is a psychological force that controls our actions. 99 00:08:13,449 --> 00:08:20,289 We often find ourselves doing things automatically, like an invisible force controlling us. 100 00:08:20,289 --> 00:08:26,279 This is what Schopenhauer calls “the will” - a blind and irrational force, which takes 101 00:08:26,279 --> 00:08:29,689 over our minds in many life situations. 102 00:08:29,689 --> 00:08:34,580 We often think we are in control of our actions, but actually there is something bigger than 103 00:08:34,580 --> 00:08:36,330 ourselves which drives us. 104 00:08:36,330 --> 00:08:41,310 We are like the rider on a big elephant - our subconscious. 105 00:08:41,310 --> 00:08:47,740 We, the conscious mind can only guide this elephant, but we cannot fully control it. 106 00:08:47,740 --> 00:08:52,520 The best thing to do is to become friends with him, trying to understand him better, 107 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:57,730 what drives him, what scares him and guides him on safe land. 108 00:08:57,730 --> 00:09:03,600 We need to keep in mind we cannot force him to do anything, but we can help him achieve 109 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,780 his goals faster. 110 00:09:05,780 --> 00:09:10,260 As a real life example, consider that you want to lose weight. 111 00:09:10,260 --> 00:09:15,680 You can try to force yourself to keep a rigid diet, sweat for 2 hours every day in the gym, 112 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:20,300 but there is a great danger you will make your “elephant” angry and he will protest 113 00:09:20,300 --> 00:09:24,990 in the most brutal way, deciding all of a sudden to eat an entire chocolate cake at 114 00:09:24,990 --> 00:09:27,590 the end of a difficult day at work. 115 00:09:27,590 --> 00:09:32,580 Your elephant will get his revenge if you do not treat him with kindness. 116 00:09:32,580 --> 00:09:39,580 To avoid making your elephant angry, you should try to introduce a new tiny habit each day, 117 00:09:39,580 --> 00:09:44,640 for example today you can start eating only one slice of bread at each meal, tomorrow 118 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:50,940 you can walk for 10 minutes, the day after tomorrow you can walk for 20 minutes and so 119 00:09:50,940 --> 00:09:52,090 on. 120 00:09:52,090 --> 00:09:58,410 Make the changes carefully and systematically if you want to see the long-term effects. 121 00:09:58,410 --> 00:10:00,290 4. 122 00:10:00,290 --> 00:10:06,570 Limit your expectations Schopenhauer teaches us: “The safest way 123 00:10:06,570 --> 00:10:13,110 of not being very miserable is to not expect to be very happy.” 124 00:10:13,110 --> 00:10:17,340 Schopenhauer argues that a life with less suffering is much better than a life with 125 00:10:17,340 --> 00:10:19,870 the greatest joys. 126 00:10:19,870 --> 00:10:25,340 When we are young, we pursue our goals with energy and anxiety, with the far stretched 127 00:10:25,340 --> 00:10:31,690 ideals of happiness, chasing professional ambitions to be somebody in society, fighting 128 00:10:31,690 --> 00:10:34,150 to be somebody we are not. 129 00:10:34,150 --> 00:10:40,300 In other words, we put a lot of stress on ourselves and our expectations are very high. 130 00:10:40,300 --> 00:10:45,960 Nowadays, especially, the lifestyles of the rich and famous are presented as a model to 131 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:52,430 follow, but, behind the scenes, they often fight with severe issues of drug abuse, depression 132 00:10:52,430 --> 00:10:54,390 and anxiety. 133 00:10:54,390 --> 00:10:58,100 We should stop chasing these kinds of ideals. 134 00:10:58,100 --> 00:11:03,280 Instead of fighting to acquire or experience things to make us happy, we should focus on 135 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,550 minimizing the pain. 136 00:11:05,550 --> 00:11:10,730 As we get older, a lot of us realize this pattern and start giving up the frantic pursuit 137 00:11:10,730 --> 00:11:14,760 of happiness that kept us miserable in our younger years. 138 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:20,340 We start to focus on minimizing pain, rather than pursuing pleasures in life. 139 00:11:20,340 --> 00:11:24,840 That invisible “will” which pushes us towards an endless torture and letting the 140 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:29,520 desires run our lives, has less effect when we are older. 141 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:34,840 But, certainly, it is much better if we try to practice limiting our expectations from 142 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:40,290 a younger age, to live more of those happier years, without so much suffering. 143 00:11:40,290 --> 00:11:46,840 To do this, we need to work on how we see the world and how we see ourselves. 144 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:52,340 The way we see ourselves and the world is oftentimes the root of our unhappiness. 145 00:11:52,340 --> 00:11:57,930 We need to be more realistic about our qualities and skills, we need to put our professional 146 00:11:57,930 --> 00:12:00,620 goals on a more realistic scale. 147 00:12:00,620 --> 00:12:06,470 Also, we need to be more compassionate towards other people, have fewer expectations from 148 00:12:06,470 --> 00:12:11,650 our partner, and stop demanding other people be perfect. 149 00:12:11,650 --> 00:12:18,020 It is far better to work on our real qualities and skills and develop them step by step, 150 00:12:18,020 --> 00:12:23,070 than pretend we are something we are not in order to achieve a higher position in our 151 00:12:23,070 --> 00:12:24,070 job. 152 00:12:24,070 --> 00:12:29,180 Also, it is far better to enjoy the company of an imperfect partner than to change your 153 00:12:29,180 --> 00:12:33,350 partner often in the pursuit of finding a perfect one. 154 00:12:33,350 --> 00:12:40,220 To be happy, peaceful, and healthy is much more important than to be famous, adored or 155 00:12:40,220 --> 00:12:43,410 having a partner as a trophy to show off. 156 00:12:43,410 --> 00:12:50,440 Therefore, we need to limit our expectations and learn to enjoy life as it is. 157 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,130 5. 158 00:12:52,130 --> 00:12:58,000 Be compassionate Schopenhauer posits that: “Compassion is 159 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,520 the basis of morality.” 160 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:06,380 Schopenhauer believed that there are many ways to free a person from suffering, at the 161 00:13:06,380 --> 00:13:13,230 same time saving him from the crisis of existence: one is the path of art, the path of austerity 162 00:13:13,230 --> 00:13:18,720 and non-desire, and another one is the path of morals. 163 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:25,630 If art is a temporary remedy, the path of morals is a permanent remedy: consequently, 164 00:13:25,630 --> 00:13:29,920 one must realize that happiness is not the goal of life. 165 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:35,560 This is because life has no goal, and perhaps sleep is the only moment when a person achieves 166 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:38,050 a natural state of happiness. 167 00:13:38,050 --> 00:13:43,240 Our environment would be unbearable if we didn’t have any moral guidance to navigate 168 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:44,750 through it. 169 00:13:44,750 --> 00:13:49,690 We need to find meaning in this world and one of the most effective ways to find this 170 00:13:49,690 --> 00:13:54,780 meaning is to learn to be compassionate towards other human beings. 171 00:13:54,780 --> 00:13:58,750 We should not pursue our happiness at the cost of other people. 172 00:13:58,750 --> 00:14:05,220 In the end, we are all manifestations of the Will, we are all in this life together, and, 173 00:14:05,220 --> 00:14:11,180 according to Schopenhauer, all moral actions can be reduced to “injure no one; on the 174 00:14:11,180 --> 00:14:15,100 contrary, help everyone as much as you can”. 175 00:14:15,100 --> 00:14:20,320 In our daily lives, to show compassion and good morals, we need to think of the people 176 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:26,690 around us every time we speak and act, we have to make sure we do not injure anyone, 177 00:14:26,690 --> 00:14:30,240 that our actions are fair and considerate to others. 178 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:34,510 Also, we have to do our best to help the people who need help. 179 00:14:34,510 --> 00:14:39,300 For sure, we can think of family members and friends who are now in trouble, maybe they 180 00:14:39,300 --> 00:14:44,890 do not have a job, maybe are struggling with a physical disease or condition, perhaps they 181 00:14:44,890 --> 00:14:47,460 are having problems in their relationship. 182 00:14:47,460 --> 00:14:52,140 It is not that difficult to put in a good word with the company you are currently working 183 00:14:52,140 --> 00:14:55,290 in for a friend applying for a job there. 184 00:14:55,290 --> 00:15:00,300 It is not difficult to call them to ask how they are doing, how they are coping with their 185 00:15:00,300 --> 00:15:06,110 medical issues or with marital problems and offer advice and comfort. 186 00:15:06,110 --> 00:15:11,860 No matter how small, it might just make all the difference. 187 00:15:11,860 --> 00:15:13,880 6. 188 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:18,320 Avoid boredom According to Schopenhauer: “The most general 189 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:25,300 survey shows us that the two foes of human happiness are pain and boredom.” 190 00:15:25,300 --> 00:15:29,420 Boredom is the second enemy of living a happy life. 191 00:15:29,420 --> 00:15:33,530 And it is one of the centrepieces of Schopenhauer’s philosophy. 192 00:15:33,530 --> 00:15:38,530 As soon as we get rid of pain, we are susceptible to enter a state of boredom, which prevents 193 00:15:38,530 --> 00:15:41,800 us from having a fulfilled life. 194 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:47,580 Arthur Schopenhauer is a pessimistic philosopher, he didn’t see happiness as a common state 195 00:15:47,580 --> 00:15:52,980 for a human being, but rather as an extraordinary and temporary moment. 196 00:15:52,980 --> 00:15:57,730 His work focused not on happiness, but on pain and boredom. 197 00:15:57,730 --> 00:16:03,540 As soon as you remove pain from your life, you will usually have boredom taking its place 198 00:16:03,540 --> 00:16:05,300 and not pleasure. 199 00:16:05,300 --> 00:16:11,490 We are perpetually in the pursuit of trying to capture what we desire, need, or lack; 200 00:16:11,490 --> 00:16:16,860 once we succeed in obtaining our goal, we realize it does not give the satisfaction 201 00:16:16,860 --> 00:16:19,540 or happiness we had anticipated. 202 00:16:19,540 --> 00:16:24,690 And off we go again, pursuing something else to make us happy only to find ourselves back 203 00:16:24,690 --> 00:16:29,000 to the very boredom we were trying to avoid. 204 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:34,540 Boredom is the state when you have everything you need and oftentimes leads to nihilism 205 00:16:34,540 --> 00:16:40,880 and depression, because the force which pushed us to chase the desired material things - “the 206 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,170 will” can never be satisfied with what it gets. 207 00:16:44,170 --> 00:16:50,400 That is why we often see famous people who have absolutely everything in this life, but 208 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:56,050 they don’t really know how to maintain their happiness, they soon fall into boredom which 209 00:16:56,050 --> 00:17:03,580 leads to nihilism and depression, they succumb to drugs, they divorce more often, they spend 210 00:17:03,580 --> 00:17:08,410 their money in a careless way, or even commit suicide. 211 00:17:08,410 --> 00:17:13,890 In order to avoid this from happening, Schopenhauer recommends us to concentrate less on the outside 212 00:17:13,890 --> 00:17:17,610 world and more on the inside. 213 00:17:17,610 --> 00:17:24,079 Less on possessions, less on how many cars you have, how many houses, and basing your 214 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:26,639 worth on your wealth. 215 00:17:26,639 --> 00:17:32,179 Only by ignoring the shiny objects of the external world, can you really escape from 216 00:17:32,179 --> 00:17:35,950 oscillating around the pain-boredom axis. 217 00:17:35,950 --> 00:17:41,929 To do that, you need to concentrate more on the connection between your body and mind, 218 00:17:41,929 --> 00:17:48,070 to have a more holistic approach to life, to be aware of each moment. 219 00:17:48,070 --> 00:17:53,039 Meditation can help a lot in this, it helps in becoming more conscious of the small things 220 00:17:53,039 --> 00:17:58,500 that are essential in life, starting simply with your breath. 221 00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:04,820 Also, writing a gratitude journal each morning, counting all the blessings you have in life 222 00:18:04,820 --> 00:18:07,740 can help you avoid taking things for granted. 223 00:18:07,740 --> 00:18:13,850 A gratitude journal is a great shortcut for maintaining a fulfilled life, free from boredom, 224 00:18:13,850 --> 00:18:19,370 with the only caveat being that you need to count your inner blessings more, you need 225 00:18:19,370 --> 00:18:25,889 to focus on your inner world, on your close relationships, and not on the external world, 226 00:18:25,889 --> 00:18:29,990 on possessions, success or fame. 227 00:18:29,990 --> 00:18:31,620 7. 228 00:18:31,620 --> 00:18:37,020 Make room for art In our final quote from Schopenhauer for this 229 00:18:37,020 --> 00:18:43,519 video, he tells us: “The true work of art leads us from that which exists only once 230 00:18:43,519 --> 00:18:50,429 and never again, i.e. the individual, to that which exists perpetually and time and time 231 00:18:50,429 --> 00:18:56,580 again in innumerable manifestations, the pure form or Idea.” 232 00:18:56,580 --> 00:19:02,240 Schopenhauer was very much influenced by Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher. 233 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:08,340 Plato considered that we are like cavemen, we can see only the shadows of the real truths, 234 00:19:08,340 --> 00:19:13,289 their manifestation in this world, and not their real essence. 235 00:19:13,289 --> 00:19:20,159 Schopenhauer, by analogy, considered that we live in a world where the truth is distorted, 236 00:19:20,159 --> 00:19:26,900 what we see is not the essence of reality, we can see only the shadows. 237 00:19:26,900 --> 00:19:32,169 The Will to live is what keeps us prisoners in the cave, manipulating our lives like we're 238 00:19:32,169 --> 00:19:37,730 some kind of puppet, keeping us in the cycle of pain and boredom. 239 00:19:37,730 --> 00:19:44,850 There is one great way to temporarily escape from this cave, from our ordinary life, this 240 00:19:44,850 --> 00:19:46,710 is through art. 241 00:19:46,710 --> 00:19:52,620 For example, we can contemplate the beauty of a painting, listen to high quality music, 242 00:19:52,620 --> 00:19:58,510 sculpting, photographing beautiful landscapes and people, doing anything which elevates 243 00:19:58,510 --> 00:20:02,499 our souls and it is creative by nature. 244 00:20:02,499 --> 00:20:08,070 Schopenhauer considered that music is the best way to see the true essence of the world. 245 00:20:08,070 --> 00:20:14,200 Scientists from Stanford did a lot of studies on the baroque music of the 18th century and 246 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:20,409 it was proven that by listening to baroque music the brain changes, baroque music of 247 00:20:20,409 --> 00:20:25,769 the 18th century increases the level of awareness and intelligence. 248 00:20:25,769 --> 00:20:31,860 Even if you might not be a fan of 18th century baroque music, you can still follow Schopenhauer’s 249 00:20:31,860 --> 00:20:37,460 advice to include as much real art as possible in your life, because through art you can 250 00:20:37,460 --> 00:20:44,600 liberate yourself from the ordinary desires and needs, which keep you in pain or boredom. 251 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:51,860 Art has the quality to transcend reality and to connect us with the real spiritual essence 252 00:20:51,860 --> 00:20:54,119 of this world. 253 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:58,390 If you enjoyed this video, please do make sure to check out the full Philosophies for 254 00:20:58,390 --> 00:21:03,309 Life channel, and for more videos to help you find success and happiness using ancient 255 00:21:03,309 --> 00:21:07,280 philosophical wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe. 256 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:09,710 Thanks so much for watching.