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Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
Thomas Carlyle
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Pleasure is not inherently evil, but becoming enslaved to it can undermine our morality.

This quote by Thomas Carlyle emphasizes that while it is human to enjoy pleasant things, the true danger lies in allowing those pleasures to dictate our actions and morality. When we become so dependent on external pleasures that we lose control over our ethical choices, we effectively enslave our moral self, compromising our integrity and autonomy in the process.

Themes

PleasureMoralitySlaveryEnjoymentSelf-Control

In practice

Example use cases

During a lecture on ethical responsibility, one could quote this to emphasize the importance of moral autonomy.

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Philosophy dwells aloft in the Temple of Science, the divinity of its inmost shrine; her dictates descend among men, but she herself descends not : whoso would behold her must climb with long and laborious effort, nay, still linger in the forecourt, till manifold trial have proved him worthy of admission into the interior solemnities.
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