Single Idea 8142

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 3. Pleasure / c. Value of pleasure]

Full Idea

The wise prefer the good to the pleasant; the foolish, driven by fleshly desires, prefer the pleasant ot the good.

Gist of Idea

The wise prefer good to pleasure; the foolish are drawn to pleasure by desire

Source

Anon (Upan) (The Upanishads [c.950 BCE], 'Katha')

Book Reference

'The Upanishads', ed/tr. Prabhavananda /Manchester [Mentor 1957], p.16


A Reaction

If you consider appropriate diet, this is too obvious to be worth saying. The complication is that it is doubtful whether a life without pleasure is wholly good, and even the pleasure of food is not bad. Of two good foods, prefer the pleasant one.