I had much rather be adorned by beauty of character than by jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, character comes from within.
PlautusRead
I seek the utmost pleasure and the least pain.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the pursuit of joy while avoiding suffering.
This quote by Plautus reflects a fundamental human desire to attain maximum happiness while minimizing distress in life. It speaks to the inherent motivation to seek out pleasurable experiences and to create a life that is fulfilling by reducing negative emotions and pain.
Themes
PleasurePainHappinessLifeDesire
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about pursuing happiness, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of seeking joy.
More from Plautus
All quotes →Property is unstable, and youth perishes in a moment. Life itself is held in the grinning fangs of Death, Yet men delay to obtain release from the world. Alas, the conduct of mankind is surprising.
PlautusRead
Things we do not expect, happen more frequently than we wish.
PlautusRead
The gods confound the man who first found out How to distinguish hours! Confound him, too, Who in this place set up a sun-dial, To cut and hack my days so wretchedly Into small portions.
PlautusRead
I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within.
PlautusRead
If I can only keep my good name, I shall have riches enough.
PlautusRead
Similar quotes
I take it not only a day at a time, but a moment at a time, and keep it at that pace. If you can be happy right now, then you’ll always be happy, because it’s always in the now
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But day after day of depression, the kind that doesn’t seem to merit carting me off to a hospital but allows me to sit here on this stoop in summer camp as if I were normal, day after day wearing down everybody who gets near me. My behavior seems, somehow, not acute enough for them to know what to do with me, though I’m just enough of a mess to be driving everyone around me crazy.
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There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
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Henry David ThoreauRead