“optimism, where it is not just the thoughtless talk of someone with only words in his flat head, strikes me as not only absurd, but even a truly wicked way of thinking, a bitter mockery of the unspeakable sufferings of humanity.”

German philosopher of the early 19th century, Schopenhauer is best known for his pessimistic worldview and influential critique of Kantian idealism. His work *The World as Will and Representation* explores human suffering as an inescapable aspect of existence, shaping later existentialist thought.