It is said that Schopenhauer slept with loaded pistols beside his bed. Whether true or not, the image is of formidable accuracy. Here is reasoning represented in its virtues and its consequences! What to say? Schopenhauer, a very rare intelligence, guided by what his vigorous mind dictated, could not contain the side effects of his rational conduct. Good judgment dictates that one should always have loaded pistols near oneself, always being suspicious of life, of others, of everything!, always being in a state of alert, fearful and cautious, knowing that life tends to death, dreams to disappointment, desires to frustration, joy to pain… The consequences, however, may be against good judgment: how to consider reasonable a conduct that makes one second of sloppiness impossible? Terrible, terrible… Pistols loaded next to the pillow! To live like Schopenhauer is to uproot the possibility of peace, fostering unbearable psychological terror. Better to be a dwarf and have thousands of quiet nights before arrives the only fatal night…
Schopenhauer’s Sleep
