Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
Pleasure and pain, beauty and deformity, good and ill, seemed to me everywhere interwoven; and one with another made a pretty mixture, agreeable enough in the main. ‘Twas the same, I fancied, as in some of those rich stuffs where the flowers and ground were oddly put together, with such irregular work and contrary colors, as looked ill in the pattern, but natural and well in the piece.
—Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621–83) British Statesman
The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no reference to fun in any act of Parliament.
—A. P. Herbert (1890–1971) English Humorist, Novelist, Playwright, Politician
Centers, or wooden frames are put under the arches of a bridge, to remain no longer than till the latter are consolidated, and then are thrown away or cast into the fire. Even so, sinful pleasures are the devil’s scaffolding to build a habit upon; and once formed and fixed, the pleasures are sent for firewood, and hell begins in this life.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
All fits of pleasure are balanced by an equal degree of pain or languor; ’tis like spending this year, part of the next year’s revenue.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.
—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) English Aristocrat, Poet, Novelist, Writer
Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.
—Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) British Philosopher, Economist
Pleasure is the first good. It is the beginning of every choice and every aversion. It is the absence of pain in the body and of troubles in the soul.
—Epicurus (c.341–270 BCE) Greek Philosopher
A fool bolts pleasure, then complains of moral indigestion.
—Minna Antrim (1861–1950) American Writer, Epigrammist
Look upon pleasures not upon that side that is next the sun, or where they look beauteously, that is, as they come toward you to be enjoyed, for then they paint and smile, and dress themselves up in tinsel, and glass gems, and counterfeit imagery.
—Jeremy Taylor
Perhaps the rare and simple pleasure of being seen for what one is compensates for the misery of being it.
—Margaret Drabble (b.1939) English Novelist, Biographer, Critic, Short Story Writer
With the catching ends the pleasures of the chase.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Abstainer: A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
To find recreation in amusement is not happiness.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
It is not virtue, but a deceptive copy and imitation of virtue, when we are led to the performance of duty by pleasure as its recompense.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The goal towards which the pleasure principle impels us—of becoming happy—is not attainable: yet we may not—nay, cannot—give up the efforts to come nearer to realization of it by some means or other.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
No man is a hypocrite in his pleasures.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Pleasure is Nature’s test, her sign of approval. When man is happy, he is in harmony with himself and with his environment.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Innocent amusements are such as excite moderately, and such as produce a cheerful frame of mind, not boisterous mirth; such as refresh, instead of exhausting, the system; such as recur frequently, rather than continue long; such as send us back to our daily duties invigorated in body and spirit; such as we can partake of in the presence and society of respectable friends; such as consist with and are favorable to a grateful piety; such as are chastened by self-respect, and are accompanied with the consciousness that life has a higher end than to be amused.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
Women have simple tastes. They get pleasure out of the conversation of children in arms and men in love.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
The average man does not get pleasure out of an idea because he thinks it is true; he thinks it is true because he gets pleasure out of it.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
Play so you may be serious.
—Anacharsis (fl. 6th century BCE) Scythian Prince
We have more days to live through than pleasures. Be slow in enjoyment, quick at work, for men see work ended with pleasure, pleasure ended with regret.
—Baltasar Gracian (1601–58) Spanish Scholar, Prose Writer
People have many different kinds of pleasure. The real one is that for which they will forsake the others.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
Perhaps all pleasure is only relief.
—William S. Burroughs (1914–97) American Novelist, Poet, Short Story Writer, Painter
He buys honey too dear who licks it from thorns.
—Common Proverb
The roses of pleasure seldom last long enough to adorn the brow of him who plucks them, and they are the only roses which do not retain their sweetness after they have lost their beauty.
—Hugh Blair (1718–1800) Scottish Preacher, Scholar, Critic
Pleasure has its time; so too, has wisdom. Make love in thy youth, and in old age attend to thy salvation.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author