The foolβs life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.
EpicurusRead
No pleasure is evil in itself; but the means by which certain pleasures_x000D_ _x000D_ are gained bring pains many times greater than the pleasures.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Pleasures are not inherently bad, but the methods used to obtain them can lead to greater suffering.
This quote by Epicurus expresses the idea that while seeking pleasure is a natural human inclination, the pursuit of certain pleasures can result in negative consequences that outweigh the initial joy. It highlights the importance of considering the means through which we seek enjoyment, urging us to pursue pleasures that do not come at a significant cost to our well-being or the well-being of others.
Themes
PleasurePainEthicsConsequencesPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about ethical decision-making.
More from Epicurus
All quotes βAccustom yourself to believe that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply awareness, and death is the privation of all awareness; therefore a right understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life an unlimited time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality. For life has no terror; for those who thoroughly apprehend that there are no terrors for them in ceasing to live.
EpicurusRead
The wise man who has become accustomed to necessities knows better how to share with others than how to take from them, so great a treasure of self-sufficiency has he found.
EpicurusRead
We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.
EpicurusRead
I was not, I was, I am not, I care not. (Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo)
EpicurusRead
Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.
EpicurusRead
Similar quotes
When like-minded people, talking mostly with one another, end up thinking a more extreme version of what they thought before they started to talk... If you put a bunch of rebels in a room and ask them to discuss rebellion, they'll get more extreme.
Cass SunsteinRead
When we look into the human heart we see the lust, the greed, the hate, the pride, the anger, and the jealousies that are so destructive. This is at the heart of the human predicament, and the Scriptures call this condition sin.
Ravi ZachariasRead
Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean - make sure they know what they mean!
John IrvingRead
God, the Great Giver, can open the whole universe to our gaze in the narrow space of a single land.
Rabindranath TagoreRead
I have my own soul. My own spark of divine fire.
George Bernard ShawRead
If you hear a "prominent" economist using the word 'equilibrium,' or 'normal distribution,' do not argue with him; just ignore him, or try to put a rat down his shirt.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead