Authors / Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer quotes

1788–1860 · German philosopher

The great pessimist of philosophy, Schopenhauer wrote with unusual clarity — and gets credited with a famous saying about truth that isn't his.

1 real · 2 not theirs

Really theirs

1 quotes traced to Arthur Schopenhauer's own work or a reliable witness.

Sourced

Man can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills.

Source: On the Freedom of the Will (1839)

Not theirs

2 famous lines credited to Arthur Schopenhauer that are misquoted, unsourced or belong to someone else.

Misquoted

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.

The real words: Condensed from The World as Will and Representation, vol. 2, ch. 31: talent is like a marksman who hits a target others cannot reach; genius hits one they cannot even see.

Not theirs

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

Actually: Not found anywhere in Schopenhauer's works; the attribution appears in the 20th century.