This book is a small treatise on practical wisdom aimed at achieving happiness. But how did the teacher of modern pessimism, Arthur Schopenhauer, tackle such an endeavor? He did so because theoretical philosophy is different from the practical wisdom of life: we should not abandon hope nor turn our backs on rules of life, aphorisms, and advice that will help us face difficulties. The pessimistic belief that our life oscillates between pain and boredom is precisely what makes the need for practical wisdom to live better imperative. It is in our best interest to find rules of life to limit the sufferings of existence, to endure the blows of fate, and to achieve, if not absolute happiness, a relative happiness, the happiness that consists in the absence of pain.