This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
High art, high morals, high faith, are impossible among those who do not believe their own inspirations, but only court them for pleasure or profit.
Jean Paul, born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, aka Jean Paul Richter
The test of pleasure is the memory it leaves behind.
The secret pleasure of a generous act is the great mind’s great bribe.
The secret pleasure of a generous act is the great mind's bribe.
John Foster, fully John Watson Foster
All pleasure must be bought at the price of pain. The difference between false and true pleasure is this; for the true, the price is paid before you enjoy it; for the false, after you enjoyed it.
The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, utility, or the Great Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness... Pleasure and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends.
Creed | Ends | Freedom | Pain | Pleasure | Right | Wrong | Happiness |
Superstition, in all times and among all nations, is the fear of a spirit whose passions are those of a man, whose acts are the acts of a man; who is present in some places, not in others; who makes some places holy and not others; who is kind to one person, unkind to another; who is pleased or angry according to the degree of attention you pay him, or praise you refuse him; who is hostile generally to human pleasure, but may be bribed by sacrifice of a part of that pleasure into permitting the rest. This, whatever form of faith it colors, is the essence of superstition.
Attention | Faith | Fear | Man | Nations | Pleasure | Praise | Present | Rest | Sacrifice | Spirit | Superstition |
Laughter, while it lasts, slackens and unbraces the mind, weakens the faculties and causes a kind of remissness and dissolution in all the powers of the soul; and thus it may be looked on as weakness in the composition of human nature. But if we consider the frequent reliefs we receive from it and how often it breaks the gloom which is apt to depress the mind and damp our spirits, with transient, unexpected gleams of joy, one would take care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life.
Care | Gloom | Human nature | Joy | Laughter | Life | Life | Mind | Nature | Pleasure | Receive | Soul | Weakness | Wise |
He who has once stood beside the grave, to look back upon the companionship which has been forever closed, feeling how impotent there are the wild love, or the keen sorrow, to give one instant’s pleasure to the measure to the departed spirit for the hour of unkindness, will scarcely for the future incur that debt to the heart which can only be discharged to the dust.
Debt | Future | Grave | Heart | Love | Pleasure | Sorrow | Spirit | Unkindness | Will | Companionship |
Duc de Lévis, fully Pierre-Marc-Gaston de Lévis
Boredom is a sickness the cure for which is work; pleasure is only a palliative.
Since unhappiness excites interest, many, in order to render themselves interesting, feign unhappiness.
Order | Unhappiness |
Lord Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Humanity is the peculiar characteristic of great minds; little vicious minds abound with anger and revenge, and are incapable of feeling the exact pleasure of forgiving their enemies.
Laura Schlesinger, fully Laura Catherine Schlessinger, aka Dr. Laura
As satisfying as pleasure is, it is also transitory and superficial. Pleasure is an event. In contrast, happiness is a process. Pleasure is material. Happiness is spiritual. Pleasure is self-involved. Happiness involves others.
Josh Billings, pen name for Henry Wheeler Shaw, aka Uncle Esek
Don't mistake pleasure for happiness. They are a different breed of dogs.
Present unhappiness is selfish; past sorrow is compassionate.
Past | Present | Sorrow | Unhappiness |
Life is growth - a challenge of environment. If we cannot meet our everyday surroundings with equanimity and pleasure and grow each day in some useful direction, then this splendid balance of cosmic forces which we call life is on the road toward misfortune, misery and destruction. Therefore, health is the most precious of all things.
Balance | Challenge | Day | Equanimity | Growth | Health | Life | Life | Misfortune | Pleasure |
Leonardo da Vinci, fully Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.
Joy | Pleasure | Understanding |