--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pleasure is a by-product of doing…" description: "\"Pleasure is a by-product of doing something that is worth doing. Therefore, do not seek pleasure as such. Pleasure comes of seeking something else, and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/abbott-lawrence-lowell-43966_happiness_pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-someth_2413159.png" --- # Pleasure is a by-product of doing something that is worth… ![“Pleasure is a by-product of doing something that is worth doing. Therefore, do not seek pleasure as such. Pleasure comes of seeking something else, and comes by the way.” quote by Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/abbott-lawrence-lowell-43966_happiness_pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-someth_2413159.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/abbott-lawrence-lowell-43966_happiness_pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-someth_2413159.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/abbott-lawrence-lowell-43966_happiness_pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-someth_2413159.png) > “Pleasure is a by-product of doing something that is worth doing. Therefore, do not seek pleasure as such. Pleasure comes of seeking something else, and comes by the way.” [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pleasure is a secondary effect of pursuing meaningful goals; seeking pleasure directly often leads to emptiness. **In simple terms:** Do meaningful work, pleasure follows. Key Takeaway Focus on purpose, not pleasure. Themes purpose meaning pleasure motivation Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - creative projects - volunteering - personal development Key Concepts philosophy psychology goal setting Questions to Reflect On - What activities give you a sense of purpose? - How do you balance enjoyment with meaningful effort? A Different Perspective Pleasure can be fleeting and may distract from deeper fulfillment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Pleasure Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-comes-785800/) [Pleasure Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-pleasure-405956/) [Pleasure Product](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-product-6082229/) [Products](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/products/) [Seek Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seek-pleasure-451697/) [Seeking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeking/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [“all humans are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain, to seek hope and avoid fear, and finally, to seek social acceptance and avoid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nir-eyal/all-humans-are-motivated-to-seek-pleasure-and-avoid-pain-to-seek-hope/) [Nir Eyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nir-eyal/) > [Adventure is something you seek for pleasure, or even for profit, like a gold rush or invading a country;...but experience is what really happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/adventure-is-something-you-seek-for-pleasure-or-even-for-profit-like/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [“Everything about us, everything around us, everything we know and can know of is composed ultimately of patterns of nothing; that’s the bottom line,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/everything-about-us-everything-around-us-everything-we-know-and-can/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“1. Accept everything just the way it is. 2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake. 3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miyamoto-musashi/1-accept-everything-just-the-way-it-is-2-do-not-seek-pleasure-for-its/) [Miyamoto Musashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miyamoto-musashi/) > [“A part of love just contains with desire to seek a pleasure and sometimes we don't need a heart to reach it. and another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ikke-achmad/a-part-of-love-just-contains-with-desire-to-seek-a-pleasure-and/) [ikke achmad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ikke-achmad/) > [“Accept everything just the way it is. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miyamoto-musashi/accept-everything-just-the-way-it-is-do-not-seek-pleasure-for-its-own/) [Miyamoto Musashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miyamoto-musashi/) > [“On Pleasure Pleasure is a freedom-song, But it is not freedom. It is the blossoming of your desires, But it is not their fruit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/on-pleasure-pleasure-is-a-freedom-song-but-it-is-not-freedom-it-is/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [“In sexual love we seek our own pleasure via another body. In non-sexual love, we seek our own pleasure via our own idea. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/in-sexual-love-we-seek-our-own-pleasure-via-another-body-in-non/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“To seek pleasure, to avoid pain, is the general line of action (some would say law) of the organic world. Without this quest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kropotkin/to-seek-pleasure-to-avoid-pain-is-the-general-line-of-action-some/) [Peter Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kropotkin/) > [Pleasure comes after pain, the sun shines after rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/motahar-sharif/pleasure-comes-after-pain-the-sun-shines-after-rain/) [Motahar Sharif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/motahar-sharif/) > [“I have never sought to displease; I merely seek pleasure and avoid the pain it causes those who work to produce it. That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/i-have-never-sought-to-displease-i-merely-seek-pleasure-and-avoid-the/) [Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/) > [My pleasure comes from doing my job in the best possible way. Whether it is at Chelsea or Juventus or Watford, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianluca-vialli/my-pleasure-comes-from-doing-my-job-in-the-best-possible-way-whether/) [Gianluca Vialli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianluca-vialli/) > [Fogg states that all humans are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain; to seek hope and avoid fear; and finally, to seek social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nir-eyal/fogg-states-that-all-humans-are-motivated-to-seek-pleasure-and-avoid/) [Nir Eyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nir-eyal/) > [There is a kind of pleasure which comes from sacrilege or the profanation of the objects offered us for worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/there-is-a-kind-of-pleasure-which-comes-from-sacrilege-or-the/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [“the disinhibition caused by said brain damage, can also spur the infected individual to seek the pleasure of compulsive, casual sexual activity”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/the-disinhibition-caused-by-said-brain-damage-can-also-spur-the/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) ## More by Abbott Lawrence Lowell > [Universities are full of Knowledge; the freshmen bring a little in, the seniors take none away, and the knowledge there accumulates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/universities-are-full-of-knowledge-the-freshmen-bring-a-little-in-the/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) > [There's a Harvard man on the wrong side of every question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/there-s-a-harvard-man-on-the-wrong-side-of-every-question/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) > [I must follow them. I am their leader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/i-must-follow-them-i-am-their-leader/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) > [Of course there's a lot of knowledge in universities: the freshmen bring a little in; the seniors don't take much away, so knowledge sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/of-course-there-s-a-lot-of-knowledge-in-universities-the-freshmen/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) > [All social life, stability, progress, depend upon each man's confidence in his neighbor, a reliance upon him to do his duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/all-social-life-stability-progress-depend-upon-each-man-s-confidence/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) > [“Ants, like human beings, can create civilizations without the use of reason.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/ants-like-human-beings-can-create-civilizations-without-the-use-of/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) > [The mark of an educated man is the ability to make a reasoned guess on the basis of insufficient information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/the-mark-of-an-educated-man-is-the-ability-to-make-a-reasoned-guess/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) > [A tale is told of a man in Paris during the upheaval in 1948, who saw a friend marching after a crowd toward the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/a-tale-is-told-of-a-man-in-paris-during-the-upheaval-in-1948-who-saw/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) [Explore all 9 Abbott Lawrence Lowell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) ## More Happiness quotes > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) [Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pleasure is a by-product of doing something that is worth doing. Therefore, do not seek pleasure as such. Pleasure comes of seeking something else, and comes by the way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abbott Lawrence Lowell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-something-that-is-worth-doing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Happiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-something-that-is-worth-doing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/abbott-lawrence-lowell-43966_happiness_pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-someth_2413159.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/abbott-lawrence-lowell-43966_happiness_pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-someth_2413159.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75e/abbott-lawrence-lowell-43966_happiness_pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-someth_2413159.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Pleasure is a by-product of doing something that is worth doing. Therefore, do not seek pleasure as such…” — Abbott Lawrence Lowell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Abbott Lawrence Lowell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Pleasure is a by-product of doing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-something-that-is-worth-doing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/pleasure-is-a-by-product-of-doing-something-that-is-worth-doing/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```