Collected here are six short essays, Religion - a Dialogue, A Few Words on Pantheism, On Books and Reading, Physiognomy, Psychological Observations, and, The Christian System, by the world renowned philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

This book is the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The value of this work is much disputed. Some rank Schopenhauer as one of the most original and inspiring of all philosophers, while others see him as inconsistent and too pessimistic.

Schopenhauer believed in the supremacy of will over intellect, and he wrote extensively on the motivations behind actions. These six essays, drawn from Parerga and posthumously published works.

A disciple of Kant and a significant factor in shaping Nietzsche's thinking, Arthur Schopenhauer worked from the foundation that reality is but an extension of our own will, and that human life is characterized chiefly by misery.

Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his atheistic pessimism and philosophical clarity. His analysis of will led him to the conclusion that emotional, physical, and sexual desires can never be fulfilled. Consequently, he favored a lifestyle of negating human desires,

In this essay from Schopenhauer final work, Parerga und Paralipomena (1851), the philosopher favors individual strength of will and independent, reasoned deliberation over the tendency to act on irrational impulses. He examines the ways in which life can be arranged to derive the highest degree of pleasure and success....