If you, too, feel like existence is just a fleeting astonishment in the midst of an eternity of non-existence, Arthur Schopenhauer is your guy. Often called ‘the philosopher of pessimism’ this German thinker believed that desire was the root of suffering. So, next time you’re regretting that impulse buy, just think: Schopenhauer would totally say ‘I told you so’.

He also thought that art, music, and contemplative isolation were the ways to cope with life. Basically, Schopenhauer was the original emo kid, just a few centuries early. He is also known as the first German philosopher to incorporate Eastern thought into his writings.

Although he never achieved great fame in his lifetime, his work paved the way for the likes of Sigmund Freud, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Friedrich Nietzsche.