You've been devouring books since childhood, accumulating wisdom and unlocking the secrets of the universe, one bound treasure after another. But what if I told you one of history's most brilliant minds believed your ceaseless reading was akin to gorging on little more than Literary Happy Meals - empty intellectual calories leaving you spiritually malnourished?

We're talking about the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer had very contrary views on the reading of books compared to conventional wisdom. As he bluntly put it: "If a man does not want to think, the safest plan is to take up a book directly he has a spare moment."

Brace yourself, because Schopenhauer's guidelines for how to read purposefully and retain wisdom rather than accumulating pages will likely upend your current habits and assumptions. If you're ready for advice from one of history's most brilliant but contrarian thinkers, one that may disappoint your book-devouring ways, then keep watching it.

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