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Single Idea 84
[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 3. Pleasure / f. Dangers of pleasure
]
Full Idea
Pleasures are a hindrance to thinking, and the more enjoyable the greater the hindrance (e.g. sex).
Gist of Idea
The greater the pleasure, the greater the hindrance to thought
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1152b15)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.250
A Reaction
The intellectual's objection to excessive pleasure. He means practical thought, as well as theorising.
The
14 ideas
with the same theme
[how can pleasure be harmful?]:
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5155
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It is hard to fight against emotion, but harder still to fight against pleasure
[Heraclitus]
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442
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Pleasures are like pirates - if you are caught they drown you in a sea of pleasures
[Epicharmus]
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1664
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I would rather go mad than experience pleasure
[Antisthenes (I)]
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4319
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In a fool's mind desire is like a leaky jar, insatiable in its desires, and order and contentment are better
[Plato]
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132
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If happiness is the satisfaction of desires, then a life of scratching itches should be happiness
[Plato]
|
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264
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The conquest of pleasure is the noblest victory of all
[Plato]
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2123
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Excessive pleasure deranges people, making the other virtues impossible
[Plato]
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2158
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Pleasure-seekers desperately seek illusory satisfaction, like filling a leaky vessel
[Plato]
|
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84
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The greater the pleasure, the greater the hindrance to thought
[Aristotle]
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523
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It is as brave to master pleasure as to overcome the enemy
[Democritus (attr)]
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7899
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Even divine pleasure will not satisfy the wise, as it is insatiable, and leads to pain
[Anon (Dham)]
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20852
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Rapture is a breakdown of virtue
[Stoic school, by Diog. Laertius]
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13323
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The whole point of pleasure-seeking is novelty, and abandoning established ways
[Seneca]
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4859
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Pleasure is only bad in so far as it hinders a man's capability for action
[Spinoza]
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