Sign-In
Cart
Counsels and Maxims: A Classic Guide to Practical Wisdom, Prudence, and the Conduct of Life
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781604595673
Publisher: SMK Books
Published: Jan 5 2009
Pages: 88
Weight: 0.31
Height: 0.21 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Arthur Schopenhauer's Counsels and Maxims is a sharp, unsentimental classic of philosophical advice, drawn from the practical side of one of the nineteenth century's most powerful and pessimistic minds. Originally published as part of Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit in 1851, the work belongs to Schopenhauer's later collection Parerga and Paralipomena and offers a concentrated guide to conduct, happiness, self-command, reputation, solitude, prudence, and the limits of human expectation. Project Gutenberg identifies Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit as published in 1851 as part of Parerga and Paralipomena, while PhilPapers identifies Counsels and Maxims as the second part of that work in the T. Bailey Saunders translation.
Schopenhauer does not write as a cheerful moralist. His advice begins from the conviction that human life is difficult, desire is dangerous, vanity is universal, and happiness is usually a matter of damage control rather than triumph. That hard clarity is exactly what gives the book its continuing force. Instead of offering optimism, Counsels and Maxims teaches caution, independence of mind, discipline of speech, careful judgement of others, and the practical value of limiting one's dependence on public approval.
For readers of classic philosophy, pessimism, ethics, aphoristic writing, practical wisdom, and nineteenth-century European thought, Counsels and Maxims remains one of Schopenhauer's most accessible works. It is not a self-help book in the modern sense, but something colder, wiser, and more durable: a philosophical manual for living in a world that does not owe anyone comfort.
10 different editions
Also available
Counsels and Maxims: A Classic Guide to Practical Wisdom, Prudence, and the Conduct of Life
Schopenhauer, Arthur
Hardcover
Also in
Philosophy
In the Beginning Was the Deed: Realism and Moralism in Political Argument
Williams, Bernard
Paperback
The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: American Indian Studies and Traditional Knowledge
Fixico, Donald Lee
Paperback
Dreaming of Cinema: Spectatorship, Surrealism, and the Age of Digital Media
Lowenstein, Adam
Paperback
Machine Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Spiritual Freedom and the Re-Animation of Matter
Lafitte, Luke
Paperback
The Sociogony: Social Facts and the Ontology of Objects, Things, and Monsters
Worrell, Mark P.
Paperback
On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence: Unpublished and Selected Writings
Pirsig, Robert M.
Pirsig, Wendy K.
Hardcover
Philosophy in Turbulent Times: Canguilhem, Sartre, Foucault, Althusser, Deleuze, Derrida
Roudinesco, Elisabeth
Paperback
The New Science of Giambattista Vico: Unabridged Translation of the Third Edition (1744) with the Addition of Practic of the New Science
Vico, Giambattista
Paperback
Friendship and Society: An Introduction to Augustine's Practical Philosophy
Burt, Donald X.
Paperback
The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance
Gottlieb, Anthony
Paperback
The Modes of Scepticism: Ancient Texts and Modern Interpretations
Barnes, Jonathan
Julia, Annas
Annas, Julia
Paperback
Essays V2: Moral And Entertaining On The Various Faculties And Passions Of The Human Mind (1815)
Clarendon, Edward Hyde Earl of
Paperback
The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Holiday, Ryan
Hanselman, Stephen
Hardcover
The Obstacle Is the Way Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph
Holiday, Ryan
Hardcover
The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us
Goldstein, Rebecca Newberger
Hardcover
Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
Godfrey-Smith, Peter
Paperback
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Fifth Anniversary Limited Edition: The Global Bestseller
Mackesy, Charlie
Hardcover
The Courage to Be Ordinary: Discover Your Surprising Superpower for a Thriving Life
Kishimi, Ichiro
Paperback
Self-Help from the Middle Ages: What the Seven Deadly Sins Can Teach Us about Living
Jones, Peter
Hardcover
My Big TOE Awakening Discovery Inner Workings: The Complete My Big TOE Trilogy Unifying Philosophy, Physics and Metaphysics
Campbell, Thomas
Hardcover
The Ethical Slut, Third Edition: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, and Other Freedoms in Sex and Love
Easton, Dossie
Hardy, Janet W.
Paperback
Revolt Against the Modern World: Politics, Religion, and Social Order in the Kali Yuga
Evola, Julius
Hardcover
Self-Reliance and Nature: The Complete First and Second Series of Emerson's Essays
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Hardcover