Existence by Schopenhauer

Of every event in our life it is only for a moment that we can say that it is; after that we must say for ever that it was. What has been exists no more; and exists just as little as that which has never been. But everything that exists has been in the next moment. Hence something belonging to the present, however unimportant it may be, is superior to something important belonging to the past; this is because the former is a reality and related to the latter as something is to nothing. Our existence is based solely on the ever-fleeting present.


The scenes of our life are like pictures in a rough mosaic, which have no effect at close quarters, but must be looked at from a distance in order to discern their beauty. So that to obtain something we have desired is to find out that it is worthless; we are always living in expectation of better things, while, at the same time, we often repent and long for things that belong to the past.We accept the present as a means to accomplish our aim.


That human life must be a kind of mistake is sufficiently clear from the fact that man is a compound of needs, which are dificult to satisfy; moreover, if they are satisfied, all he is granted is a state of painlessness, in which he can only give himself up to boredom. This is a precise proof that existence in itself has no value, since boredom is meerly the feeling of the emptiness of life. Our existance would  not be a joyous thing unless we were striving after something; distance and obstacles to be overcome then represent our aim as something that would satisfy us - and illusion which vanishes when our aim has been attained. So that the first task is to win something, and the second, after the something has been won, it is time to forget about it, otherwise it becomes a burden.


Time is an element in our brain which by the means of duration gives us a semblance of reality to the absolutely empty existence of things and ourselves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer