Schopenhauer: Essays and Aphorisms Quotes

Quotes

“There are, first of all, two kinds of authors: those who write for the subject's sake, and those who write for writing's sake. The first kind have had thoughts or experiences which seem to them worth communicating, while the second kind need money and consequently write for money. They think in order to write, and they may be recognised by their spinning out their thoughts to the greatest possible length, and also by the way they work out their thoughts, which are half-true, perverse, forced, and vacillating; then also by their love of evasion, so that they may seem what they are not; and this is why their writing is lacking in definiteness and clearness.”

Arthur Schopenhauer, “On Authorship And Style”

Writers who are inherently inspired do not aim at generating money by way of their writing. Intrinsic incentive results in the yearning to express views about themes which the writer is fascinated with. Comparatively, the writing which is enthused by extrinsic inspiration embellishes particulars so as to enhance perceptions among the prospective audience. Accordingly, writing for money is characterized by restricted credibility.

“Again, it may be said that there are three kinds of authors. In the first place, there are those who write without thinking. They write from memory, from reminiscences, or even direct from other people's books. This class is the most numerous. In the second, those who think whilst they are writing. They think in order to write; and they are numerous. In the third place, there are those who have thought before they begin to write. They write solely because they have thought; and they are rare.”

Arthur Schopenhauer, “On Authorship And Style”

The foremost dynamic that is used to catalogue writers in this passage is the degree of thinking that is involved in the writing. Memory-based writing does not oblige any thinking because it is purely based on reminiscences. They style of writing while in the progression of writing generates arbitrary content that is attributed to the writer’s jumbled reasoning. The technique of thinking before embarking on writing suggests that all the content that is written is the upshot of a writer’s exhaustive reflection; this style results in appropriately systematized and focused content.

“But to pass from genus to species, the truly infernal cracking of whips in the narrow resounding streets of a town must be denounced as the most unwarrantable and disgraceful of all noises. It deprives life of all peace and sensibility. Nothing gives me so clear a grasp of the stupidity and thoughtlessness of mankind as the tolerance of the cracking of whips. This sudden, sharp crack which paralyses the brain, destroys all meditation, and murders thought, must cause pain to any one who has anything like an idea in his head. Hence every crack must disturb a hundred people applying their minds to some activity, however trivial it may be; while it disjoints and renders painful the meditations of the thinker; just like the executioner's axe when it severs the head from the body. No sound cuts so sharply into the brain as this cursed cracking of whips; one feels the prick of the whip-cord in one's brain, which is affected in the same way as the mimosa pudica is by touch, and which lasts the same length of time. With all respect for the most holy doctrine of utility, I do not see why a fellow who is removing a load of sand or manure should obtain the privilege of killing in the bud the thoughts that are springing up in the heads of about ten thousand people successively. (He is only half-an-hour on the road.)”

Arthur Schopenhauer, “On Noise”

Schopenhauer censures the ‘cracking of whips’ because it distracts tranquility and obstructs with people’s thoughts. An individual who is meditating would not tranquilly progress with his/ her contemplation in the backdrop of the cracking sound. Such noise cannot be validated because once it occurs it bothers more than one individual. The individuals propagating the noise are oblivious about the ripple consequence of their whip-cracking. Besides, the cracking is not efficacious in inducing the horses which are the subjects of the whipping. Horses are conditioned to withstand the pain of the whip to the degree that they cease responding to it. The noise from the whip is deafening because it unswervingly impacts the brain.

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