1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,870 Arthur Schopenhauer was one of the greatest philosophers of all time. 2 00:00:05,870 --> 00:00:11,330 He lived from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century in Germany. 3 00:00:11,330 --> 00:00:16,550 His most important work was “The World As Will and Representation”. 4 00:00:16,550 --> 00:00:21,340 He was one of the most prominent figures of the philosophy of pessimism and the first 5 00:00:21,340 --> 00:00:25,550 great Western philosopher who was interested in Buddhism. 6 00:00:25,550 --> 00:00:30,560 The best way to understand his teachings is to analyze them through the eyes of the enlightened 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,989 pessimism prevalent in Buddhist philosophy. 8 00:00:33,989 --> 00:00:39,239 Arthur Schopenhauer is known as the ultimate pessimist because he articulates a pessimistic 9 00:00:39,239 --> 00:00:42,570 worldview that questions life’s meaning. 10 00:00:42,570 --> 00:00:48,020 He believed that the universe was fundamentally irrational and human beings are driven by 11 00:00:48,020 --> 00:00:54,620 a force called the Will, a basic force in the Universe, never satisfied, and we, the 12 00:00:54,620 --> 00:00:59,170 human beings, don’t have much self-control to fight it. 13 00:00:59,170 --> 00:01:04,559 Schopenhauer argues that the best way to be happy is by ceasing to look for happiness 14 00:01:04,559 --> 00:01:09,439 and instead try to remove the unhappiness from our life. 15 00:01:09,439 --> 00:01:15,410 This idea reflects philosophical pessimism, which is not a psychological disposition, 16 00:01:15,410 --> 00:01:18,440 but rather a worldview. 17 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:23,350 Philosophical pessimism suggests that it is always better to expect the worst in order 18 00:01:23,350 --> 00:01:25,829 to receive the best. 19 00:01:25,829 --> 00:01:31,390 By using the principles of philosophical pessimism, we can eliminate the irrational hopes and 20 00:01:31,390 --> 00:01:37,100 expectations we have in life and thus we can live more peacefully and happily. 21 00:01:37,100 --> 00:01:43,170 So with that in mind here are 7 ideas you can follow in order to become a pessimist 22 00:01:43,170 --> 00:01:48,960 according to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer: 1. 23 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:55,039 Accept your limits Arthur Schopenhauer says: “Man can do what 24 00:01:55,039 --> 00:01:59,689 he wills but he cannot will what he wills.” 25 00:01:59,689 --> 00:02:05,840 In Arthur Schopenhauer’s view, we are free to act on our motives, but we cannot decide 26 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,110 what our motives should be. 27 00:02:08,110 --> 00:02:12,569 Free will means autonomy, but not independence. 28 00:02:12,569 --> 00:02:15,440 This is a compatibilist view. 29 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:21,069 The compatibilist theory says that free will can be absent from human actions or present 30 00:02:21,069 --> 00:02:26,180 to some degree, depending on the circumstances and on the subject. 31 00:02:26,180 --> 00:02:32,370 Western culture teaches us that nothing is impossible, but this is completely false according 32 00:02:32,370 --> 00:02:34,220 to Schopenhauer. 33 00:02:34,220 --> 00:02:37,950 Our life is confined by severe limits. 34 00:02:37,950 --> 00:02:43,790 We are limited by the place where we were born, by the family who raised us, the availability 35 00:02:43,790 --> 00:02:49,250 of job opportunities in our countries, by the way we look, or how we were educated, 36 00:02:49,250 --> 00:02:52,760 or even our genetics, to name just a few. 37 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:58,159 The quote from Schopenhauer does not state the impossibility of a free will, but rather 38 00:02:58,159 --> 00:03:00,069 its limits. 39 00:03:00,069 --> 00:03:06,720 We cannot change who we are, and therefore we cannot change our fundamental personality, 40 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:14,190 the way we think and feel, the things we wish for ourselves in life, our wants. 41 00:03:14,190 --> 00:03:20,040 We can learn to adapt to some situations, change the way we present ourselves, but we 42 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:24,700 cannot change the essence of who we are as a person. 43 00:03:24,700 --> 00:03:31,840 The only thing we can do is to acknowledge our desires and try to adapt our lives accordingly. 44 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,970 It is still our decision to act according to our desires. 45 00:03:35,970 --> 00:03:41,480 Sometimes, our desires push us towards a life full of suffering and stress, but we still 46 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:46,959 have the power to stop, reflect and exert more control over our desires. 47 00:03:46,959 --> 00:03:54,549 It is important to be open-minded and skeptical about anything that you want; you need to 48 00:03:54,549 --> 00:04:01,280 question your desires, your feelings and emotions, and assess whether they are constructive or 49 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:03,299 destructive to your life. 50 00:04:03,299 --> 00:04:09,610 Thus, you can learn to have more control over them and live a more peaceful life. 51 00:04:09,610 --> 00:04:15,170 For example, if you have the desire to be a rock star and you follow the top artists 52 00:04:15,170 --> 00:04:20,120 with great interest, studied all their tracks and even thought of forming your own rock 53 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:26,830 band, you need to stop and reflect on questions like - do you really have the necessary skills 54 00:04:26,830 --> 00:04:29,900 to reach success in this line of work? 55 00:04:29,900 --> 00:04:34,870 Do you really know what it takes to become a rock star, how many hundreds of hours of 56 00:04:34,870 --> 00:04:40,210 practice, how to negotiate decent contracts, how to to constantly be present and stand 57 00:04:40,210 --> 00:04:45,580 out on social media, and how much you need to work on your persona and public image? 58 00:04:45,580 --> 00:04:51,610 And, ultimately, do you feel capable of sustaining that kind of lifestyle? 59 00:04:51,610 --> 00:04:58,139 The answers to these questions should point you in the right direction for you. 60 00:04:58,139 --> 00:04:59,669 2. 61 00:04:59,669 --> 00:05:08,220 Accept that everything changes and decays Schopenhauer tells us: “Life is a constant 62 00:05:08,220 --> 00:05:11,560 process of dying.” 63 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:18,660 Every fulfilment a man achieves sows the seeds of a new desire so that each person’s desires 64 00:05:18,660 --> 00:05:21,190 can never run out. 65 00:05:21,190 --> 00:05:27,490 The Will is like the engine of the world, driving the actions of all its subjects, who 66 00:05:27,490 --> 00:05:34,340 can never completely escape its power, they are trapped in chasing their desires, but 67 00:05:34,340 --> 00:05:39,569 even when the desires are satisfied, it doesn't bring them happiness. 68 00:05:39,569 --> 00:05:46,410 When people are fulfilled, having a desire satisfied, all they get is a state of painlessness, 69 00:05:46,410 --> 00:05:49,710 with nothing left to them but boredom. 70 00:05:49,710 --> 00:05:54,979 Even sensual pleasure is nothing more than a struggle and aspiration that ends when the 71 00:05:54,979 --> 00:05:57,169 goal is achieved. 72 00:05:57,169 --> 00:06:03,169 Instead of building metaphorical castles in the air, Schopenhauer advises us to recognize 73 00:06:03,169 --> 00:06:09,110 the pointlessness of everything life can offer, to recognize that there is nothing eternal 74 00:06:09,110 --> 00:06:15,690 here on Earth, to try to detach from chasing material things and clinging to relationships 75 00:06:15,690 --> 00:06:21,960 which are all temporary, and to engage more in spiritual practices, meditating more on 76 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,750 the meaning of life and on death. 77 00:06:24,750 --> 00:06:31,660 Death is inevitable and, according to Schopenhauer, after Death we will become whatever we were 78 00:06:31,660 --> 00:06:33,979 before being born. 79 00:06:33,979 --> 00:06:40,660 We have to come to peace with the idea of Death, that everything dies and decays. 80 00:06:40,660 --> 00:06:46,270 The only thing we can do is to appreciate the momentary beauty of the things and people 81 00:06:46,270 --> 00:06:50,520 we love, but never cling onto their presence. 82 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:57,120 The more we acknowledge their temporary existence, the more we can appreciate them. 83 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:02,979 We should remember every day that the people we love will die someday and this reminder 84 00:07:02,979 --> 00:07:09,169 will make us love them even more and treat them that much better while they are still 85 00:07:09,169 --> 00:07:10,169 alive. 86 00:07:10,169 --> 00:07:15,789 Also, reminding ourselves that even this Earth on which we live will die someday will make 87 00:07:15,789 --> 00:07:22,190 us appreciate the uniqueness of our forests, our oceans, of the animals who live here with 88 00:07:22,190 --> 00:07:23,690 us. 89 00:07:23,690 --> 00:07:29,460 Thinking about Death is a great opportunity to enjoy life even more. 90 00:07:29,460 --> 00:07:31,259 3. 91 00:07:31,259 --> 00:07:35,830 Learn to see suffering as the best teacher in life 92 00:07:35,830 --> 00:07:42,470 In the words of Schopenhauer: “Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of 93 00:07:42,470 --> 00:07:43,950 things.” 94 00:07:43,950 --> 00:07:51,039 In Schopenhauer’s view, the way we define happiness is usually wrong, happiness is mostly 95 00:07:51,039 --> 00:07:54,780 the absence of pain and suffering. 96 00:07:54,780 --> 00:07:59,960 Negative experiences are more prevalent in life according to Schopenhauer, especially 97 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:07,330 if we try to find happiness not within ourselves, but in other people or in material things. 98 00:08:07,330 --> 00:08:13,229 What can redirect us to the right track and help us find real happiness is by having lived 99 00:08:13,229 --> 00:08:18,830 a severe suffering such as the loss of a loved one or the loss of our career, our business 100 00:08:18,830 --> 00:08:20,860 and so on. 101 00:08:20,860 --> 00:08:26,370 Such tragic events can shake us and help us see how ephemeral and worthless all the things 102 00:08:26,370 --> 00:08:32,280 we have been chasing in life truly are, and through this we can better understand what 103 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,580 really matters. 104 00:08:34,580 --> 00:08:41,030 If we lost a loved one, we can meditate on how temporary this life is, how every second 105 00:08:41,030 --> 00:08:48,150 counts, how to invest more time in the relationships that really matter, how to appreciate our 106 00:08:48,150 --> 00:08:50,630 family and friends more. 107 00:08:50,630 --> 00:08:57,050 If we lost a career or business, we can realize that although we put vast amounts of our time 108 00:08:57,050 --> 00:09:03,000 and energy into that work, what really matters in the end is the person we become after that 109 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,820 journey, what lessons and skills we’ve learned. 110 00:09:07,820 --> 00:09:13,720 In Schopenhauer’s view, loss is the best teacher, because it can direct us to find 111 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,270 the real value of all things in our life. 112 00:09:17,270 --> 00:09:22,270 The bigger the tragedy, the more we can change ourselves, and the better we can understand 113 00:09:22,270 --> 00:09:26,310 reality, that everything is just temporary. 114 00:09:26,310 --> 00:09:31,630 For example, if we know our relationship with our loved ones is temporary, we are that much 115 00:09:31,630 --> 00:09:34,440 less likely to take them for granted. 116 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:40,760 Also, in the case of our career or business, instead of concentrating all of our efforts 117 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:46,460 into getting extra money and in getting a better reputation and popularity, it is better 118 00:09:46,460 --> 00:09:53,600 to focus on gaining new skills, on self development, on who we can become as a person by advancing 119 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,230 in that career or business. 120 00:09:56,230 --> 00:09:57,480 4. 121 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:05,050 Don’t be blinded by love Schopenhauer teaches us that: “Every kind 122 00:10:05,050 --> 00:10:13,160 of love, however ethereal it may seem to be, springs entirely from the instinct of sex.” 123 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:18,450 Schopenhauer believed that no one can claim their romantic love is stronger than their 124 00:10:18,450 --> 00:10:21,080 sexual instincts. 125 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:26,830 Romantic love is rooted in sexual instinct, according to the theory of Sigmund Freud, 126 00:10:26,830 --> 00:10:30,010 the founder of psychoanalysis. 127 00:10:30,010 --> 00:10:35,200 Sexual attraction creates a powerful bond which connects two people for an initially 128 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,490 short, but potentially very long time. 129 00:10:38,490 --> 00:10:44,390 The deeper the attraction, the higher the chances to build a life together and possibly 130 00:10:44,390 --> 00:10:46,350 procreate. 131 00:10:46,350 --> 00:10:52,580 According to Schopenhauer, love is the most powerful force in life, but, in his pessimistic 132 00:10:52,580 --> 00:11:00,010 analysis, love is a servant of the will to live, it is a subconscious force pushing us 133 00:11:00,010 --> 00:11:02,600 towards procreation. 134 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:07,370 The more chances there are to be compatible with someone in procreating, the stronger 135 00:11:07,370 --> 00:11:10,690 the love you can feel towards that person. 136 00:11:10,690 --> 00:11:16,600 That is why the way people look, the status they have in society, what kind of lifestyle 137 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:22,070 they lead, all play a crucial role in attraction. 138 00:11:22,070 --> 00:11:29,390 We can compose beautiful poems about love, romantic novels and movies, chase high-profile 139 00:11:29,390 --> 00:11:36,050 jobs, try to become popular in our personal and professional circles, invest fortunes 140 00:11:36,050 --> 00:11:43,160 in our clothes and hairstyles, but, in the end, at the base of everything, it all comes 141 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:47,210 down to the base desire to procreate. 142 00:11:47,210 --> 00:11:54,150 Therefore, instead of becoming infatuated and blinded by love, we should rather acknowledge 143 00:11:54,150 --> 00:11:59,640 the basic instincts that are playing us, acknowledge their importance. 144 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:05,620 By recognizing them, we can control them better, and make better decisions. 145 00:12:05,620 --> 00:12:11,450 This acknowledgment and choosing easier ways to impress the opposite sex can make our lives 146 00:12:11,450 --> 00:12:13,840 that much easier. 147 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:19,440 Once we know what is at the root of many of our actions – our sexual instincts – we 148 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,960 can start controlling them and we can avoid being blinded by love. 149 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:30,490 For example, once you know who the person is that you want to be with, you need to start 150 00:12:30,490 --> 00:12:36,600 seeing love for what it is, an expression of sexual desires. 151 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:41,490 According to Schopenhauer, the more easily you succumb to the power of love, the more 152 00:12:41,490 --> 00:12:45,720 easily you are manipulated by the Will to live. 153 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:51,160 His philosophy was about trying to become aware of the Will that is driving your instincts. 154 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:58,350 However, to get out from the trap of one’s Will, using your mental faculties is not enough 155 00:12:58,350 --> 00:13:03,170 as our Will is often manipulating us subconsciously. 156 00:13:03,170 --> 00:13:09,610 Schopenhauer does not provide a manual to escape the power of Will, but he gives hope 157 00:13:09,610 --> 00:13:15,800 that we can domesticate its power by refraining from following our initial impulse and by 158 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,510 trying to minimize our natural desires. 159 00:13:19,510 --> 00:13:25,100 Therefore, before you follow your heart, you might be better off not following your initial 160 00:13:25,100 --> 00:13:31,880 instinct at all, but instead to attempt to diminish your desire to be with that person. 161 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:37,610 For example, you might be in the situation when you have to decide if you should pursue 162 00:13:37,610 --> 00:13:42,110 a life with a person you are attracted to but you know the person is incompatible with 163 00:13:42,110 --> 00:13:44,380 you on many other levels. 164 00:13:44,380 --> 00:13:50,820 In that situation, you may well be happier in the long run by ignoring your base desires 165 00:13:50,820 --> 00:13:56,540 and spending your energy finding someone more broadly compatible with you. 166 00:13:56,540 --> 00:13:58,410 5. 167 00:13:58,410 --> 00:14:05,460 Sacrifice pleasure to avoid pain Schopenhauer posits that: “It is a clear 168 00:14:05,460 --> 00:14:10,810 gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain.” 169 00:14:10,810 --> 00:14:16,390 According to Schopenhauer, we’re like lambs in a field, grazing under the watchful eye 170 00:14:16,390 --> 00:14:21,080 of the butcher, who selects one after the other for his prey. 171 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:26,410 So it is that on our good days, we are all blissfully unaware of the horrors that fate 172 00:14:26,410 --> 00:14:33,860 may have in store for us like illness, starvation, mutilation, blindness and so on. 173 00:14:33,860 --> 00:14:39,060 In Schopenhauer’s pessimistic way of seeing life, every life’s happiness is measured, 174 00:14:39,060 --> 00:14:44,580 not by its pleasures and joys, but by how free of pain it is. 175 00:14:44,580 --> 00:14:48,870 For instance, imagine happiness after buying your first home. 176 00:14:48,870 --> 00:14:54,010 At first, you might think you are happy because of the house itself, of how beautiful and 177 00:14:54,010 --> 00:15:00,640 spacious it is, because you are now an owner, but what gives you happiness in reality is 178 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:06,280 the feeling of relief that you own a house now, you do not need to stress anymore about 179 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:12,690 paying rent and you feel secure that you always have a shelter from now on and all of these 180 00:15:12,690 --> 00:15:17,100 are the consequences of removing the pain of not having a shelter. 181 00:15:17,100 --> 00:15:22,250 However, Schopenhauer points out that this happiness is temporary and you will soon be 182 00:15:22,250 --> 00:15:27,440 worried about issues like mortgages, maintenance, the security of your job with which you have 183 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,050 to pay the mortgage and so on. 184 00:15:30,050 --> 00:15:36,480 And here is where Schopenhauer gives an important lesson: don’t spend every penny you can 185 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:42,200 earn or borrow on the most beautiful house you can find, it is better to buy a house 186 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:48,890 you can comfortably afford, which does not put additional stress on your finances long-term. 187 00:15:48,890 --> 00:15:54,200 Doing so, you will avoid being a puppet that is completely manipulated by Will - not to 188 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:59,610 mention the bank - and instead, you make a reasonable decision which limits the pain 189 00:15:59,610 --> 00:16:04,450 in your life, even if that means sacrificing the pleasure of owning the most beautiful 190 00:16:04,450 --> 00:16:06,770 house out there. 191 00:16:06,770 --> 00:16:08,420 6. 192 00:16:08,420 --> 00:16:13,680 Limit your expectations In the words of Schopenhauer: “There is 193 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:22,680 no doubt that life is given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome; to be got over.” 194 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:28,830 With astute psychological insights, Schopenhauer confirms his position on the negative essence 195 00:16:28,830 --> 00:16:30,760 of happiness. 196 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:36,120 The Will can fool us into thinking that it is all about finding satisfaction and pleasure 197 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:44,280 in life, making us chase expensive cars, houses, high paid jobs, holidays in luxury resorts, 198 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:49,680 expensive clothes and the like, but in fact what we really want are the essential things 199 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:57,750 we need: a shelter, enough food, a partner, a secure community to live in. 200 00:16:57,750 --> 00:17:02,770 Often, to get this minimum amount of things is a real struggle. 201 00:17:02,770 --> 00:17:10,740 Therefore, life is not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome, which means we need to overcome 202 00:17:10,740 --> 00:17:15,040 the Will that tricks us into wanting more than we need. 203 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:20,610 We should follow the Will only to an extent to satisfy our basic needs in life in order 204 00:17:20,610 --> 00:17:27,670 to survive – like food, shelter, and family, but we should try to limit the power of Will 205 00:17:27,670 --> 00:17:32,670 when it is pushing us to obtain things that we don't really need. 206 00:17:32,670 --> 00:17:40,250 To make sure we really understand this teaching, we need to investigate our wants in life. 207 00:17:40,250 --> 00:17:45,670 Instead of writing a big list of impossible dreams and plans for some exotic trip , we 208 00:17:45,670 --> 00:17:51,470 might rather ponder on the troubles we have in life and find real solutions to overcome 209 00:17:51,470 --> 00:17:52,660 them. 210 00:17:52,660 --> 00:17:57,550 The to-do lists, according to this teaching of Schopenhauer, should not include to-do 211 00:17:57,550 --> 00:18:02,820 items which push us toward achieving more than we need, but should include to-do items 212 00:18:02,820 --> 00:18:09,780 that help us secure our basic needs and help us solve the life problems we already have. 213 00:18:09,780 --> 00:18:15,440 For example, if you are an employee working many hours per week, neglecting your family 214 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:21,280 and trying just to pay the rent of your expensive apartment, try making a list of what you need 215 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:27,850 to do to remove the pain of working so many hours, of staying away from your family or 216 00:18:27,850 --> 00:18:33,870 of putting all the money into your apartment while sacrificing other aspects of your life. 217 00:18:33,870 --> 00:18:39,270 You could try to change your 12 hour-a-day job for one that requires a more reasonable 218 00:18:39,270 --> 00:18:45,150 8 hours, perhaps move to a cheaper apartment, allowing you the opportunity to make more 219 00:18:45,150 --> 00:18:49,930 time for your family or even just give yourself more personal space. 220 00:18:49,930 --> 00:18:56,010 Therefore, you need to sacrifice the pleasure of living in a beautiful house by removing 221 00:18:56,010 --> 00:19:02,750 the pain that comes with it: long hours at work, less time with your family and friends. 222 00:19:02,750 --> 00:19:04,680 7. 223 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:10,410 Find Happiness within yourself In our final quote from Schopenhauer for this 224 00:19:10,410 --> 00:19:16,890 video, he tells us that: “It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is 225 00:19:16,890 --> 00:19:21,070 impossible to find it anywhere else.” 226 00:19:21,070 --> 00:19:26,920 Solitude was always one of the favorite subjects of great thinkers, including Schopenhauer. 227 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:32,380 By his pessimistic teaching, Schopenhauer points out how difficult it is to find happiness 228 00:19:32,380 --> 00:19:38,320 in general and how impossible it is to derive happiness from relationships with other people, 229 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:42,850 through fame or through acquiring possessions. 230 00:19:42,850 --> 00:19:47,390 Real happiness can only be found inside. 231 00:19:47,390 --> 00:19:52,270 One of the most important pieces of advice Schopenhauer had for young people was for 232 00:19:52,270 --> 00:19:57,010 them to start learning to find solitude as early as possible. 233 00:19:57,010 --> 00:20:02,820 In Schopenhauer’s view, solitude is an inevitable reality and the sooner you acknowledge this 234 00:20:02,820 --> 00:20:08,240 and the fact of being alone, the sooner you will free yourself from the fear of being 235 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:15,560 alone and this is the only way in which you can reach a lasting happiness and peace. 236 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:21,770 We all have a subconscious fear of being left alone, misunderstood and deprived of human 237 00:20:21,770 --> 00:20:28,110 connections and this is the reason why we tend to cling to other people, demanding them 238 00:20:28,110 --> 00:20:30,490 to make us happy. 239 00:20:30,490 --> 00:20:36,140 Emotional dependency doesn’t provide happiness and Schopenhauer argues that only by being 240 00:20:36,140 --> 00:20:39,430 free from dependencies, can you reach happiness. 241 00:20:39,430 --> 00:20:46,070 To do so, you need to start building your inner world, to focus more on your hobbies, 242 00:20:46,070 --> 00:20:53,100 on exploring your skills and talents, on meditating on life’s meaning, on what gives you peace 243 00:20:53,100 --> 00:20:55,870 and real joy. 244 00:20:55,870 --> 00:21:01,970 Make a list of everything you can do in solitude which brings you joy like a walk in the park, 245 00:21:01,970 --> 00:21:08,560 reading a great book, listening to certain music, crafting, painting and so on and start 246 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:11,870 engaging in those activities more often. 247 00:21:11,870 --> 00:21:17,450 Once you build your system of activities which bring you joy no matter the circumstances, 248 00:21:17,450 --> 00:21:24,650 your emotional stability will never be shaken regardless of whatever happens in your relationships, 249 00:21:24,650 --> 00:21:30,640 in your career, or in society in general. 250 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:35,250 So if you enjoyed this video, please do make sure to check out our full Philosophies for 251 00:21:35,250 --> 00:21:40,250 Life playlist and for more videos to help you find success and happiness using ancient 252 00:21:40,250 --> 00:21:44,010 philosophical wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe. 253 00:21:44,010 --> 00:21:46,240 Thanks so much for watching.