Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
It is not shameful for a man to succumb to pain, but it is shameful to succumb to pleasure.
In plain terms
Pain is acceptable, pleasure can be disgraceful.
What can you take from it?
Guard against letting pleasure dictate actions.

Where it applies

  • temptation scenarios
  • suffering contexts

Putting it to work

  • practice restraint
  • reflect on motives

Questions to consider

  • Why is pleasure seen as more dangerous?
  • How can we honor pain without self‑harm?

Another view

Pleasure can be virtuous when balanced.

More from Blaise Pascal

  1. It is not in space that I must seek my human dignity, but in the ordering of my thought. It will do me no good to own land. Through space the universe grasps m…

    Permalink to quote #30
  2. Justice is as much a matter of fashion as charm is. (309)

    Permalink to quote #32
  3. Il n'est pas certain que tout soit incertain. (387)

    Permalink to quote #29

Related quotes

  1. 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
  2. 'All our suffering comes from a deficiency to stand up for our beliefs.'

    Heinz BarwichHeinz Barwich quote #1
  3. Tout ce qui plait a une raison de plaire, et mepriser les attroupements de ceux qui s'egarent n'est pas le moyen de les ramener ou ils devraient etre.

    Charles BaudelaireCharles Baudelaire quote #1