“There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity.”

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.