Studies in Pessimism

Studies in Pessimism gathers a selection of the late essays from Schopenhauer's Parerga und Paralipomena (1851) — the great two-volume collection in which the philosophical pessimist of The World as Will and Representation turned, in his sixties, to short prose pieces of practical and historical reflection. Where The Wisdom of Life treats the practical conduct of life, Studies in Pessimism concentrates on the harder topics: the suffering of the world, the vanity of existence, suicide, the futility of fame, women, and the proper conduct toward death.

The essays are short, ferociously direct, and quotable to a fault. They are also, intermittently, very funny — Schopenhauer's misanthropy is rarely without wit.