Hume's Real Riches

Re:Hume's Real Riches by jasperry on Sunday May 29, 2022 @03:21PM (#31552009)

This is interesting, because I was just reading an essay of Schopenhauer where he claims that his own pessimistic temperament is the best way to preserve some happiness amidst the troubles of life, because of its low expectations.

Maybe the broader lesson is that, whatever natural temperament type you have, whether cheerful, stoic, or pessimistic, that temperament is your built-in way of adapting to life, and you will be happier overall if you own and embrace it.

Philosophers have been accused of turning their own inclinations into a theory that explains why their way is the best for everyone else as well. :)

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Re:Hume's Real Riches by Konohamaru on Sunday May 29, 2022 @11:18PM (#31555166)

What was the name of that essay?

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Re:Hume's Real Riches by jasperry on Monday May 30, 2022 @09:50PM (#31565396)

I think it was from "On the Wisdom of Life: Aphorisms": https://gutenberg.org/files/10731/10731-h/10731-h.htm#link2H...

There are a few in there that seem close to what I remember. Maybe this one:

"The sublime melancholy which leads us to cherish a lively conviction of the worthlessness of everything of all pleasures and of all mankind, and therefore to long for nothing, but to feel that life is merely a burden which must be borne to an end that cannot be very distant, is a much happier state of mind than any condition of desire..."

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