/lit/ - Literature

Hey /lit/, can we talk about Schopenhauer?

I was wondering the other day, Schopenhauer talks about the process of turning pain (pain of love, loss etc.) into wisdom, but is this same wisdom able to obtained without going through the pain?

If not, then why do we find it so easy to comment on the pain of others and advise them on what to do when we have not first gained this wisdom ourselves?

Another possibility is that I have missed something in his writings.

What is the most life changing book you have ever read /lit/?

Particularly have you ever read any philosophy that had a large impact on your life?