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The Art of Literature Quotes by Arthur Schopenhauer: Context & Meanings

5 quotations linked to The Art of Literature by or associated with Arthur Schopenhauer, with source notes, explanations and related topics.

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About this source

English selection from Schopenhauer’s Parerga and Paralipomena, translated by T. Bailey Saunders

Topics and ideas

Authorship, style, thinking for oneself, criticism, reading, clarity, independent judgment, literature and intellectual discipline.

English wording

Translation

T. Bailey Saunders — Translator · German → English

The wording shown here follows the represented English edition or translation.

Why the edition matters

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Primary / edition source · gutenberg.org ↗ Primary / edition source · gutenberg.org ↗
Leading themes in this source

Prominent ideas connected with the quotations represented here

Book 5Mindset 5Reading 5Attitude 4Growth 4Mind 4Personal Growth 4Thinking Quotes About Reasoning, Reflection & Judgment 4Art 3Inspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & Possibility 3Writing 3Communication 2Creativity 2Curiosity 2
Represented passages

5 quotations with source context and meaning

Source identified1
it is only when he has turned it over that he can be said to know it.
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“it is only when he has turned it over that he can be said to know it.”

Arthur Schopenhauer
Meaning & context

Learning becomes knowledge, in this account, when material has been actively reconsidered and integrated rather than merely encountered or memorized.

Source details

The Art of Literature, section “On Thinking for Oneself,” T. Bailey Saunders translation; Project Gutenberg #10714. The preceding sentence says a person must first learn something before turning it over in the mind.

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Source identified2
Good writing should be governed by the rule that a man can think only one thing clearly at a time
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“Good writing should be governed by the rule that a man can think only one thing clearly at a time”

Arthur Schopenhauer
Meaning & context

Schopenhauer makes clarity of sentence structure answer to the limits of attention, arguing that prose should help the reader follow one thought distinctly instead of forcing several at once.

Source details

The Art of Literature, section “On Style,” T. Bailey Saunders translation; Project Gutenberg #10714. The following discussion criticizes overloaded parenthetical sentence construction.

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Source identified3
Therefore instead of contracting his words and forms of speech, let a writer enlarge his thoughts.
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“Therefore instead of contracting his words and forms of speech, let a writer enlarge his thoughts.”

Arthur Schopenhauer
Meaning & context

Schopenhauer argues that stronger writing should come from fuller thought rather than from compressing weak ideas into mannered phrasing, tying style to intellectual substance.

Source details

The Art of Literature, section “On Style,” T. Bailey Saunders translation; Project Gutenberg #10714. The English volume rearranges material drawn from Schopenhauer’s Parerga.

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Source identified4
a man may have a great mass of knowledge, but if he has not worked it up by thinking it over for himself, it has much less value than a far smaller amount which he has thoroughly pondered.
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“a man may have a great mass of knowledge, but if he has not worked it up by thinking it over for himself, it has much less value than a far smaller amount which he has thoroughly pondered.”

Arthur Schopenhauer
Meaning & context

Accumulated information is distinguished from understanding: Schopenhauer values knowledge that has been actively compared, connected and reconsidered over a larger but unprocessed store.

Source details

The Art of Literature, section “On Thinking for Oneself,” T. Bailey Saunders translation; Project Gutenberg #10714. The library analogy immediately precedes the sentence.

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Source identified5
it is only where a man is convinced of the truth and importance of his thoughts, that he feels the enthusiasm necessary for an untiring and assiduous effort to find the clearest, finest, and strongest expression for them
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“it is only where a man is convinced of the truth and importance of his thoughts, that he feels the enthusiasm necessary for an untiring and assiduous effort to find the clearest, finest, and strongest expression for them”

Arthur Schopenhauer
Meaning & context

The passage connects conviction with revision effort: ideas considered important deserve sustained work toward clearer and stronger expression rather than careless presentation.

Source details

The Art of Literature, “On Style,” T. Bailey Saunders translation, Project Gutenberg #10714. Schopenhauer’s represented English essay says that conviction in the truth and importance of one’s thoughts supplies the enthusiasm for sustained work toward clearer and stronger expression. The volume rearranges Parerga material and the passage remains nineteenth-century literary counsel, not experimental writing science.

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More represented works

Continue through other sources by Arthur Schopenhauer

The Wisdom of Life1851 · 13 quotationsCounsels and Maxims1851 · 8 quotationsEssays of Schopenhauer — On Books and Reading1851 · 4 quotationsThe World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3)1818 · 2 quotations