The fundamental truth which Schopenhauer claims to have discovered is
that love is an illusion—an _instinctive_ belief on the lover’s part
that his life’s happiness absolutely depends on his union with his
beloved; whereas, in truth, a love-match commonly leads to lifelong
conjugal misery. The lover, on reaching the goal so eagerly striven for,
finds himself disappointed, and realises, to his consternation, that he
has been the dupe of a blind instinct. Quien se casa por amores, ha de
vivir con dolores, says a Spanish proverb (“to marry for love is to live
in misery”): and this doctrine Schopenhauer re-echoes in a dozen
different forms: “It is not only disappointed love-passion that
occasionally has a tragic end; successful love likewise leads more
commonly to misery than to happiness.” “Marriages based on love commonly
end unhappily,” etc.