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Single Idea 523

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

Full Idea

The brave man is not only he who overcomes the enemy, but he who is stronger than pleasures. Some men are masters of cities, but are enslaved by women.

Gist of Idea

It is as brave to master pleasure as to overcome the enemy

Source

Democritus (attrib) (reports [c.250 BCE], B214), quoted by John Stobaeus - Anthology 3.07.25

Book Ref

'Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers', ed/tr. Freeman,Kathleen [Harvard 1957], p.111

A Reaction

I'm not sure if 'bravery' is the relevant virtue here.Sounds like self-control or temperance. I suspect that mastering a city is quite pleasurable, if that's your thing.

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

5155 It is hard to fight against emotion, but harder still to fight against pleasure [Heraclitus]
442 Pleasures are like pirates - if you are caught they drown you in a sea of pleasures [Epicharmus]
1664 I would rather go mad than experience pleasure [Antisthenes (I)]
4319 In a fool's mind desire is like a leaky jar, insatiable in its desires, and order and contentment are better [Plato]
132 If happiness is the satisfaction of desires, then a life of scratching itches should be happiness [Plato]
264 The conquest of pleasure is the noblest victory of all [Plato]
2123 Excessive pleasure deranges people, making the other virtues impossible [Plato]
2158 Pleasure-seekers desperately seek illusory satisfaction, like filling a leaky vessel [Plato]
84 The greater the pleasure, the greater the hindrance to thought [Aristotle]
523 It is as brave to master pleasure as to overcome the enemy [Democritus (attr)]
7899 Even divine pleasure will not satisfy the wise, as it is insatiable, and leads to pain [Anon (Dham)]
20852 Rapture is a breakdown of virtue [Stoic school, by Diog. Laertius]
13323 The whole point of pleasure-seeking is novelty, and abandoning established ways [Seneca]
4859 Pleasure is only bad in so far as it hinders a man's capability for action [Spinoza]