Arthur Schopenhauer was the official ‘life sucks, deal with it’ philosopher. He was born in 1788 in Germany, grew up in a wealthy family, but traded luxury for a pessimistic worldview worthy of a 19th century goth.

​

Inspired by Kant and Buddhism, he wrote The World as Will and Representation, which is practically a philosophical manual explaining why we are all condemned to desire things that will never satisfy us.

​

A bit grumpy and antisocial, he spent years complaining that nobody recognised his genius - until, in his old age, he became one of the most influential philosophers in the West. He died in 1860 - probably angry about something - leaving a legacy that is still popular today among melancholic intellectuals and fans of existential philosophy.