Vol. 2, Ch. 20, § 242

Great minds are related to the brief span of time during which they live as great buildings are to a little square in which they stand: you cannot see them in all their magnitude because you are standing too close to them.

— Arthur Schopenhauer

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Great minds are related to the brief span of time during which they live as great buildings are to a little square in which they stand: you cannot see them in all their magnitude because you are standing too close to them." in the context of "Vol. 2, Ch. 20, § 242" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Arthur Schopenhauer" (Quotes, Parerga and Paralipomena (1851): Various portions of this large work have been translated and published in English under various titles. It is here divided up into sections corresponding to those of the original volumes and some of the cited translations. , Counsels and Maxims: Counsels and Maxims, as translated by T. Bailey Saunders (also on Wikisource: Counsels and Maxims).) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 26, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Arthur Schopenhauer

About Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer (22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher, most famous for his work The World as Will and Representation (1819).