The Schopenhauer Cure
A Novel
Irvin D. Yalom
To my community of older buddies who grace me with their friendship, share life`s
inexorable diminishments and losses, and continue to sustain me with their wisdom and
dedication to the life of the mind: Robert Berger, Murray Bilmes, Martel Bryant, Dagfinn
Follesdahl, Joseph Frank, Van Harvey, Julius Kaplan, Herbert Kotz, Morton Lieberman,
Walter Sokel, Saul Spiro, and Larry Zaroff.
Contents
1Julius knew the life–and–death homilies as well as…
2«Hello, is this Philip Slate?»
3Union Street was sunny and festive. The clatter of silverware…
41787—The Genius: Stormy Beginning and False Start
5Leaving Philip`s office, Julius felt stunned. He gripped the banister…
6Mom and Pop Schopenhauer—Zu Hause
7At five minutes to seven Julius knocked out the ashes…
8Halcyon Days of Early Childhood
9Julius`s spacious Pacific Heights home was far grander than any…
10The Happiest Years of Arthur`s life
11Philip`s First Meeting
121799—Arthur Learns about Choice and Other Worldly Horrors
13Jerking his head to dislodge the annoying couplet from his…
141807—How Arthur Schopenhauer Almost Became a Merchant
15Pam in India
16Schopenhauer`s Main Woman
17At the start of the next meeting all eyes were…
18Pam in India (2)
19Bonnie opened the next meeting with an apology. «Sorry to…
20Foreshadowings of Pessimism
21At the onset of the following meeting, just as Bonnie…
22Women, Passion, Sex
23Bonnie`s concern about the group proved unfounded: at the next…
24Philip walked for hours after the meeting, past the Palace…
25Porcupines, Genius, and the Misanthropist`s Guide to Human Relationships
26At the next meeting Gill plunked himself down, his huge…
27After the session the group gathered for about forty–fiveeir…
28Pessimism as a Way of Life
29«I`d like to continue where we left off,” said Julius,…
30When the group left, Julius watched them walk down his…
31How Arthur Lived
32Julius entered the group room the following week to an…
33Suffering, Rage, Perseverance
34As time raced by, Julius looked forward with increasing anticipation…
35Self–Therapy
36Pam opened the next meeting. «I`ve got something to announce…
37Leaving the group room did not clear the muck from…
38In the following meeting Philip shared neither his frightening experiences…
39Fame, at Last
40Members filed in for the penultimate meeting with contrasting feelings:…
41Death Comes to Arthur Schopenhauer
42Three Years Later
NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALSO BY IRVIN D. YALOM
CREDITS
COPYRIGHT
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
1
_________________________
Every breath we draw wards off
the death that constantly
impinges on us.... Ultimately
death must triumph, for by
birth it has already become
our lot and it plays with its
prey only for a short while
before swallowing it up.
However, we continue our life
with great interest and much
solicitude as long as
possible, just as we blow out
a soap–bubble as long and as
large as possible, although
with the perfect certainty
that it will burst.
_________________________
Julius knew the life–and–death homilies as well as anyone. He agreed with the
Stoics, who said, «As soon as we are born we begin to die,” and with Epicurus, who
reasoned, «Where I am, death is not and where death is, I am not. Hence why fear
death?» As a physician and a psychiatrist, he had murmured these very consolations
into the ears of the dying.
Though he believed these somber reflections to be useful to his patients, he never
considered that they might have anything to do with him. That is, until a terrible moment
four weeks earlier which forever changed his life.
The moment occurred during his annual routine physical examination. His
