The question was, whether, if the reformers of society and government could succeed in their objects, and every person in the community were free and in a state of physical comfort, the pleasures of life, being no longer kept up by struggle and privation, would cease to be pleasures.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- If all needs were met without struggle, life's pleasures might lose their appeal.
- In plain terms
- Comfort without effort could make life boring.
- What can you take from it?
- Struggle may be necessary for pleasure.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Do we need struggle to be happy?
- Is comfort enough for life?
Another view
It assumes pleasure depends solely on scarcity rather than intrinsic value.
More from John Stuart Mill
Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.
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