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Buddhism is a religion founded on disillusionment with life. But philosophy, being more than a religion, cannot rest solidly balanced on such a slender foundation. If with Buddhism it sees the ugliness, the transiency, and the suffering in life, it also sees the beauty in Nature and art, the Eternal behind life and the satisfaction in it. Why should philosophy pretend to see no bright places because it can see the dark ones? Why should it deny the thrill of music in human existence because it can hear the wail of misery? This is why it is as quietly happy as it is gravely resigned.

-- Notebooks Category 20: What Is Philosophy? > Chapter 3 : Its Requirements > # 304