Website owner: James Miller
The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure but to avoid pain
The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure but to avoid pain.
Aristotle
I think there is great truth in this quotation from Aristotle. Most people tend to be pleasure oriented, pursuing pleasure in all of its many forms. Delicious food. Pornography. They live for great tasting food that contains too much sugar, sodium, grease or other ingredients that are not good for them (like Twinkies, chocolate cake, apple pie, candy, and sugar-loaded drinks). They can’t resist the pornography. They are continually bombarded by advertisements for all kinds of great tasting food or pornography and just can’t resist the temptations.
Unfortunately the pursuit of pleasure usually ends in pain and unhappiness. Wrong food leads to health problems later on and illicit sex leads to messed up lives.
The wise person has as his highest priority minimizing the likelihood of future problems, pain, unhappiness and suffering. This usually leads to philosophies of hard work, self-discipline and good life habits. Instead of pursuing sensual pleasure, he pursues spiritual and intellectual objectives. As a child in school he studies hard and tries to prepare himself for a well-paying profession. As an adult he is concerned about what he eats, how much he eats, and getting enough exercise. He has habits of exercising, running or walking, being careful about his diet, and keeping his weight at a healthy level.
More Aristotle quotations
It is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.
Bad people...are in conflict with themselves; they desire one thing and do another, like the incontinent who choose harmful pleasures instead of what they themselves believe to be good.
Without virtue, man is most unholy and savage, and worst in regard to sex and eating.
The self-indulgent man craves for all pleasant things... and is led by his appetite to choose these at the cost of everything else.
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