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Single Idea 264

[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 3. Pleasure / f. Dangers of pleasure ]

Full Idea

The conquest of pleasure is the noblest victory of all.

Gist of Idea

The conquest of pleasure is the noblest victory of all

Source

Plato (The Laws [c.348 BCE], 840c)

Book Ref

Plato: 'The Laws', ed/tr. Saunders,Trevor J [Penguin 1970], p.339


A Reaction

Plato's puritanical streak. Even Aristotle doesn't agree with this. Self-control does not imply conquest of pleasure. Has a good professional wine taster conquered pleasure?


The 14 ideas with the same theme [how can pleasure be harmful?]:

It is hard to fight against emotion, but harder still to fight against pleasure [Heraclitus]
Pleasures are like pirates - if you are caught they drown you in a sea of pleasures [Epicharmus]
I would rather go mad than experience pleasure [Antisthenes (I)]
In a fool's mind desire is like a leaky jar, insatiable in its desires, and order and contentment are better [Plato]
If happiness is the satisfaction of desires, then a life of scratching itches should be happiness [Plato]
The conquest of pleasure is the noblest victory of all [Plato]
Excessive pleasure deranges people, making the other virtues impossible [Plato]
Pleasure-seekers desperately seek illusory satisfaction, like filling a leaky vessel [Plato]
The greater the pleasure, the greater the hindrance to thought [Aristotle]
It is as brave to master pleasure as to overcome the enemy [Democritus (attr)]
Even divine pleasure will not satisfy the wise, as it is insatiable, and leads to pain [Anon (Dham)]
Rapture is a breakdown of virtue [Stoic school, by Diog. Laertius]
The whole point of pleasure-seeking is novelty, and abandoning established ways [Seneca]
Pleasure is only bad in so far as it hinders a man's capability for action [Spinoza]