Why are there so many dwarf stars (red and white) among the nearest stars, but none among the brightest stars?

For every kind of dwarf star that is invisible to us, there is a unique tale to tell.

If Proxima Centauri is of interest to you, know that although it is the star closest to the Sun, its brightness is greatly reduced due to its size and primarily its temperature.

An object's luminosity and its area and temperature have a simple relationship that looks like this.

On the other hand, white dwarfs are extremely hot—much hotter than our Sun during its main sequence stage. This immense temperature of a white dwarf is primarily due to the pressure in the core. White dwarfs are also fairly faint, but this time, temperature is not the cause—rather, it's the area of the white dwarf—which is roughly equal to the size of the Earth. As a result, it is very difficult to spot such faint object at such distances, even the closest to us, Sirius B, which is 8.6 light years away.

The nearest stars are usually fainter, lower mass dwarf stars; the brightest stars are massive and short lived, so fewer in number. Dwarf stars are more common because they can accumulate over time due to their longer lifespans.