Men are by nature merely indifferent to one another but women are by nature enemies.

This line expresses Schopenhauer’s characteristically pessimistic—and strongly misogynistic—view of social relations. It contrasts what he portrays as men’s comparatively detached or indifferent stance toward one another with women’s supposed innate rivalry. In his broader writings, Schopenhauer often explains human behavior through competition for resources, status, and sexual selection, and he repeatedly frames women as driven by jealousy and social maneuvering. Read historically, the remark reflects 19th‑century European gender stereotypes amplified by Schopenhauer’s polemical style rather than an empirically grounded claim. Its significance today is largely as evidence of his attitudes and of how philosophical aphorisms can encode cultural prejudice.