Anticipation makes the pleasure.

Anticipation makes the pleasure.

But pleasures are like poppies spread;
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed.
Or like the read more

But pleasures are like poppies spread;
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed.
Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white--then melts forever.

I despise the pleasure of pleasing people that I despise.

I despise the pleasure of pleasing people that I despise.

Pleasure blinds (so to speak) the eyes of the mind, and has no
fellowship with virtue.
[Lat., Voluptas read more

Pleasure blinds (so to speak) the eyes of the mind, and has no
fellowship with virtue.
[Lat., Voluptas mentis (ut ita dicam) praestringit oculos, nec
habet ullum cum virtute commercium.]

O Athenians, what toil do I undergo to please you!

O Athenians, what toil do I undergo to please you!

Men may scoff, and men may pray,
But they pay
Every pleasure with a pain.

Men may scoff, and men may pray,
But they pay
Every pleasure with a pain.

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.

For some, pleasure is a fever they can't shake. For others, it's a disease they cannot seem to catch.

For some, pleasure is a fever they can't shake. For others, it's a disease they cannot seem to catch.

The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by read more

The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.