The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Wisdom aims to avoid pain rather than seek pleasure.
- In plain terms
- Wise people avoid pain instead of seeking pleasure.
- What can you take from it?
- Prioritize avoiding pain for a wise life.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What pain are you avoiding?
- Is pleasure worth the cost?
Another view
Some wisdom comes from enduring short-term pain for long-term gain.
More from Aristotle
The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
Permalink to quote #132 The complete is more than the sum of its pieces.
Permalink to quote #134 That in the soul which is called the mind is, before it thinks, not actually any real thing.
Permalink to quote #131
Related quotes
Il n'est pas honteux pour l'homme de succomber sous la douleur et il est honteux de succomber sous le plaisir. (160)
Blaise PascalBlaise Pascal quote #31 For some identify happiness with virtue, some with practical wisdom, others with a kind of philosophic wisdom, others with these, or one of these, accompanied …
AristotleAristotle quote #46 A quick test of the assertion that enjoyment outweighs pain in this world, or that they are at any rate balanced, would be to compare the feelings of an animal…
Arthur SchopenhauerArthur Schopenhauer quote #72