A wise person gains two advantages from solitude. The first is the opportunity to
be with oneself
, and the second is the opportunity
not to be with others
. A person who is healthy and bright does not view time spent alone as a hardship. Rather, they think of it as an exciting and enjoyable date with themselves.
In any case,
life becomes lonelier as we head toward the end
. How, then, shall we prepare for this life? The answer is already laid out too clearly.
- From "Schopenhauer's Life Lessons: How to Live Your One and Only Life" -
In the process of humans living in society, I believe relationships are an essential part of what we experience. Upon reflecting carefully, I realized that I have been a person more influenced by relationships than I had thought. I have belonged to various relationships, from those as close as my wife to those with people I occasionally exchange news with. I didn't join them because I wanted to, but they were formed as I lived in society. And it seems I was struggling unconsciously to maintain those relationships while adhering to the things one must protect within them.
Among the sentences mentioned in the book, the phrase gaining the opportunity to be with oneself was a very unfamiliar expression to me. It was also slightly frightening, but the phrase life becomes lonelier as we head toward the end made me feel as if I was already living while thinking that way; in truth, I suspect I was avoiding it while knowing about it without having prepared yet. Therefore, I will now make good use of the opportunity not to be with others and faithfully devote myself to the time spent with my own self.
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