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

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

Pleasures lie thickest where no pleasures seem;
There's not a leaf that falls upon the ground
but read more

Pleasures lie thickest where no pleasures seem;
There's not a leaf that falls upon the ground
but holds some joy of silence or of sound,
Some sprite begotten of a summer dream.

Despise pleasure; pleasure bought by pain in injurious.
[Lat., Sperne voluptates; nocet empta dolora voluptas.]

Despise pleasure; pleasure bought by pain in injurious.
[Lat., Sperne voluptates; nocet empta dolora voluptas.]

Whenever you are sincerely pleased you are nourished.

Whenever you are sincerely pleased you are nourished.

Human beings need pleasure the way they need vitamins.

Human beings need pleasure the way they need vitamins.

When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the pleasure and read more

When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the pleasure and that of the repentance that is likely to follow it.

Plato divinely calls pleasure the bait of evil, inasmuch as men
are caught by it as fish by a read more

Plato divinely calls pleasure the bait of evil, inasmuch as men
are caught by it as fish by a hook.
[Lat., Divine Plato escam malorum appeliat voluptatem, quod ea
videlicet homines capiantur, ut pisces hamo.]

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.

I live and reign since I have abandoned those pleasures which you
by your praises extol to the skies.
read more

I live and reign since I have abandoned those pleasures which you
by your praises extol to the skies.
[Lat., Vivo et regno, simul ista reliqui
Quae vos ad coelum effertis rumore secundo.]