Preface to the Third Edition
Original German
Das Wahre und Aechte würde leichter in der Welt Raum gewinnen, wenn nicht Die, welche unfähig sind, es hervorzubringen, zugleich verschworen wären, es nicht aufkommen zu lassen. Dieser Umstand hat schon Manches, das der Welt zu Gute kommen sollte, gehemmt und verzögert, wo nicht gar erstickt. Für mich ist seine Folge gewesen, daß, obwohl ich erst dreißig Jahre zählte, als die erste Auflage dieses Werkes erschien, ich diese dritte nicht früher, als im zweiundsiebenzigsten erlebe. Darüber jedoch finde ich Trost in Petrarka's Worten: si quis, tota die currens, pervenit ad vesperam, satis est (de vera sapientia, p. 140). Bin ich zuletzt doch auch angelangt und habe die Befriedigung, am Ende meiner Laufbahn den Anfang meiner Wirksamkeit zu sehen, unter der Hoffnung, daß sie, einer alten Regel gemäß, in dem Verhältniß lange dauern wird, als sie spät angefangen hat. —
Der Leser wird in dieser dritten Auflage nichts von Dem vermissen, was die zweite enthält, wohl aber beträchtlich mehr erhalten, indem sie, vermöge der ihr gegebenen Zusätze, bei gleichem Druck, 136 Seiten mehr hat, als die zweite.
Sieben Jahre nach dem Erscheinen der zweiten Auflage habe ich zwei Bände „Parerga und Paralipomena“ herausgegeben. Das unter letzterem Namen Begriffene besteht in Zusätzen zur systematischen Darstellung meiner Philosophie und würde seine richtige Stelle in diesen Bänden gefunden haben: allein ich mußte es damals unterbringen wo ich konnte, da es sehr zweifelhaft war, ob ich diese dritte Auflage erleben würde. Man findet es im zweiten Bande besagter Parerga und wird es an den Ueberschriften der Kapitel leicht erkennen.
Frankfurt a. M. im September 1859.
Musean translation
Mouseia's complete machine-assisted Musean translation of the three prefaces, the four books with paragraphs 1 to 71, and the appendix on Kant, made directly from the corrected German text of the third edition (Leipzig, F. A. Brockhaus, 1859), with the printed page consulted wherever a reading was in doubt. Footnote numbers are this edition's own, assigned in reading order, so note calls and the notes they point to can differ; a few notes the scan cut short end where the printed page ends.
The true and the genuine would win room in the world more easily if those who are unable to produce it were not at the same time sworn to keep it from rising. This circumstance has already checked and delayed much that was meant to benefit the world, if it has not smothered it outright. For me its consequence has been that, although I was only thirty when the first edition of this work appeared, I live to see this third only in my seventy-second year. For this, however, I find consolation in Petrarch’s words: si quis, tota die currens, pervenit ad vesperam, satis est (de vera sapientia, p. 140). I too have arrived at last, and I have the satisfaction of seeing, at the end of my course, the beginning of my influence, in the hope that, according to an old rule, it will last long in proportion as it began late.—
The reader will miss nothing in this third edition that the second contains, and will in fact receive considerably more, since through the additions made to it, in the same print, it runs to 136 pages more than the second.
Seven years after the appearance of the second edition I published two volumes, “Parerga and Paralipomena.” What is comprised under the latter name consists of additions to the systematic exposition of my philosophy, and it would have found its proper place in these volumes; but I had to place it then wherever I could, since it was very doubtful whether I should live to see this third edition. It is to be found in the second volume of the said Parerga, and will be easily recognized by the chapter headings.
Frankfurt a. M., September 1859.
Plain English translation
Mouseia's complete machine-assisted Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the same corrected German text of the 1859 third edition, then reviewed section by section against that German base and corrected, with the printed page consulted wherever a reading was in doubt. Footnote numbers are this edition's own, assigned in reading order, so note calls and the notes they point to can differ; a few notes the scan cut short end where the printed page ends.
What is true and genuine would win its place in the world more easily if the people who cannot produce it were not also conspiring to keep it from rising. This has already held back and delayed, if not smothered, many things that were meant to benefit the world. For me the result is this: I was only thirty when the first edition of this work appeared, yet I live to see the third only in my seventy-second year. I find comfort in Petrarch’s words, though: si quis, tota die currens, pervenit ad vesperam, satis est (de vera sapientia, p. 140). I have arrived in the end too, and I have the satisfaction of seeing, at the close of my career, the beginning of my influence. I hope that, by an old rule, it will last as long as it was late in starting.—
The reader will miss nothing in this third edition that the second contained, and will get a good deal more. Thanks to the additions, it has 136 more pages than the second, in the same type.
Seven years after the second edition appeared, I published two volumes, “Parerga and Paralipomena.” What falls under the latter name consists of additions to the systematic presentation of my philosophy, and it would have found its proper place in these volumes. But at that time I had to put it wherever I could, because it was very doubtful that I would live to see this third edition. You will find it in the second volume of those Parerga, and you will easily recognize it by the chapter headings.
Frankfurt a. M., September 1859.
About this section
Preface to the Third Edition is part of The World as Will and Representation, Volume I by Arthur Schopenhauer. This page sets the German original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is book 3 of 8 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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