more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
You are scared of death - but how heedless of it you are while you are dealing with a dish of choice mushrooms!
Gist of Idea
We are scared of death - except when we are immersed in pleasure!
Source
Seneca the Younger (Letters from a Stoic [c.60], 077)
Book Ref
Seneca: 'Letters from a Stoic (Selections)', ed/tr. Campbell,Robin [Penguin 1969], p.129
A Reaction
A beautifully simple observation, from the greatest philosopher of death. Maybe hospices should concentrate on sex, drugs and rock and roll.
| 134 | Good and bad people seem to experience equal amounts of pleasure and pain [Plato] |
| 361 | It is a mistake to think that the most violent pleasure or pain is therefore the truest reality [Plato] |
| 386 | Intense pleasure and pain are not felt in a good body, but in a worthless one [Plato] |
| 328 | Everything that takes place naturally is pleasant [Plato] |
| 49 | Character is revealed by the pleasures and pains people feel [Aristotle] |
| 53 | Feeling inappropriate pleasure or pain affects conduct, and is central to morality [Aristotle] |
| 3563 | Pleasure and virtue entail one another [Epicurus] |
| 506 | Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not an adult [Democritus (attr)] |
| 5705 | Nature only wants two things: freedom from pain, and pleasure [Lucretius] |
| 13301 | We are scared of death - except when we are immersed in pleasure! [Seneca] |
| 1478 | Animals don't value pleasure, as they cease sexual intercourse after impregnation [Plutarch] |
| 3777 | Pleasure and pain control all human desires and duties [Bentham] |
| 24166 | Pleasure serves to maintain our relationship with its source [Cochrane] |