How did Arthur Schopenhauer connect desire and striving with human suffering?

Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy does not view human suffering as an accidental byproduct of life, but as an inevitable consequence of the nature of the will. In his seminal work, The World as Will and Idea, he posits that the will is the fundamental, irrational life force underlying all reality.12

In the world of appearances, this will manifests as an "eternally aimless and insatiable striving". Because the will is inherently without purpose or final satisfaction, it drives all living beings through a continuous, restless chain of desires and agitations. Schopenhauer argues that this constant striving is inseparably united with misery and misfortune, as the nature of desire is to be perpetually unfulfilled or, if satisfied, immediately replaced by new, equally restless wants.2

Ultimately, Schopenhauer characterizes human existence as a struggle where the intellect serves this blind, demanding will. He suggests that true liberation from this cycle of suffering can only be found through the temporary relief of aesthetics or the permanent negation of the will through asceticism and selfless compassion.2