Agony Quote by David Hume
““Pleasure, scarcely in one instance, is ever able to reach ecstasy and rapture; and in no one instance can it continue for any time at its highest pitch and altitude. The spirits evaporate, the nerves relax, the fabric is disordered, and the enjoyment quickly degenerates into fatigue and uneasiness. But pain often, good God, how often! rises to torture and agony; and the longer it continues, it becomes still more genuine agony and torture. Patience is exhausted, courage languishes, melancholy seizes us, and nothing terminates our misery but the removal of its cause, or another event, which is the sole cure of all evil, but which, from our natural folly, we regard with still greater horror and consternation.””
About This Quote
Source Philosophical Essay: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748
Pleasure is fleeting and often turns to fatigue, while pain can deepen into lasting agony; only removing the cause ends suffering.
In simple terms: Pleasure fades, pain endures unless its cause is removed.
Key Takeaway
Seek to address root causes of discomfort.
Themes
pain
pleasure
human condition
philosophy
Mood
thoughtful
serious
Type
philosophical
reflective
When to use this quote
- medical treatment
- conflict resolution
- personal trauma healing
- addiction recovery
Key Concepts
ethics
psychology
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- What root causes of your suffering can you eliminate?
- How do you balance seeking pleasure with inevitable discomfort?
A Different Perspective
Some pain may persist despite cause removal.
![“[W]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range of music, and will not vibrate in the least under a touch that fills others with tremulous rapture or quivering agony.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9be/george-eliot-84_agony_w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves_12409.jpg)
