The Stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Swift criticizes the Stoic idea of reducing desires to meet needs, arguing it is as self-defeating as amputating feet to solve a shoe problem.
- In plain terms
- Cutting off desires to fit your wants is as foolish as cutting off your feet to fix a shoe issue.
- What can you take from it?
- Adjusting your means is often better than destroying your capacity to pursue ends.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is minimizing desire ever a valid strategy?
- When is self-restriction self-defeating?
Another view
Sometimes reducing desire is the only viable option when resources are truly scarce.
More from Jonathan Swift
What they do in heaven we are ignorant of; what they do not we are told expressly: that they neither marry, nor are given in marriage.
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