--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Exceed due measure, and the most…" description: "\"Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful.\" — Epictetus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/epictetus-413_delightful_exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightf_3037740.jpg" --- # Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become… ![“Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful.” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/epictetus-413_delightful_exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightf_3037740.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/epictetus-413_delightful_exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightf_3037740.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/epictetus-413_delightful_exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightf_3037740.jpg) > “Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful.” [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Excess turns pleasure into displeasure; moderation preserves delight. **In simple terms:** Too much of a good thing becomes bad. Key Takeaway Practice moderation. Themes philosophy self‑control pleasure balance Mood reflective calm Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - eating - spending - leisure - relationships Key Concepts stoicism ethical living Questions to Reflect On - What pleasures do you overindulge? - How can you set healthy boundaries? A Different Perspective Human desire often ignores limits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Delightful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delightful/) [Delightful things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delightful-things/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [Few things are more delightful than grandchildren fighting over your lap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-larson/few-things-are-more-delightful-than-grandchildren-fighting-over-your/) [Doug Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-larson/) > [But children can't be a center of life and a reason for being. They can be a thousand things that are delightful, interesting, satisfying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/but-children-can-t-be-a-center-of-life-and-a-reason-for-being-they/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What do you think an artist is? ...he is a political being, constantly aware of the heart breaking, passionate, or delightful things that happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/what-do-you-think-an-artist-is-he-is-a-political-being-constantly/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Delicious foods are drugs that will inflame the gut and rot the bones, but there is no harm if one eats moderately. Delightful things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/delicious-foods-are-drugs-that-will-inflame-the-gut-and-rot-the-bones/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [Lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/lying-is-a-delightful-thing-for-it-leads-to-truth/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [I settled in with The Uninvited Guests thinking I knew what kind of Edwardian pleasures were in store: the fraught dinner party in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/i-settled-in-with-the-uninvited-guests-thinking-i-knew-what-kind-of/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [Mine ain't a selfish affection, you know," said Mr. Toots, in the confidence engendered by his having been a witness of the Captain's tenderness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mine-ain-t-a-selfish-affection-you-know-said-mr-toots-in-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There's something that's delightful about things getting bigger and more over-the-top. Sometimes it's empty, and other times, it's just fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-miller/there-s-something-that-s-delightful-about-things-getting-bigger-and/) [Christopher Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-miller/) > [ The genius of Christian spirituality is to integrate \[the\] spirit of possession with the spirit of dispossession. The spirit of dispossession implies that all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-powell/the-genius-of-christian-spirituality-is-to-integrate-the-spirit-of/) [John Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-powell/) > [The world is crammed with delightful things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-world-is-crammed-with-delightful-things/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [There shall be poets! When woman's unmeasured bondage shall be broken, when she shall live for and through herself, man--hitherto detestable--having let her go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/there-shall-be-poets-when-woman-s-unmeasured-bondage-shall-be-broken/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [One of the delightful things about Americans is that they have absolutely no historical memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhou-enlai/one-of-the-delightful-things-about-americans-is-that-they-have/) [Zhou Enlai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhou-enlai/) > [Humans like to look. I think that voyeurism and exploitation are often used in the same sentence. But, in my opinion, voyeurism is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurel-nakadate/humans-like-to-look-i-think-that-voyeurism-and-exploitation-are-often/) [Laurel Nakadate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurel-nakadate/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [What a delightful thing this perspective is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-uccello/what-a-delightful-thing-this-perspective-is/) Paolo Uccello ## More by Epictetus > [“We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. If you would be free, then, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-at-the-mercy-of-whoever-wields-authority-over-the-things-we/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/practice-yourself-for-heaven-s-sake-in-little-things-and-then-proceed/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/do-not-laugh-much-or-often-or-unrestrainedly/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-men-are-unhappy-they-do-not-imagine-they-can-ever-cease-to-be-so/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-not-disturbed-by-what-happens-to-us-but-by-our-thoughts-about/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/don-t-be-prideful-with-any-excellence-that-is-not-your-own/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/you-know-yourself-what-you-are-worth-in-your-own-eyes-and-at-what/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [As a man, casting off worn out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, entereth into ones that are new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/as-a-man-casting-off-worn-out-garments-taketh-new-ones-so-the-dweller/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-considered-wihout-sense-and-foolish/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/for-it-is-not-death-or-pain-that-is-to-be-feared-but-the-fear-of-pain/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [What else can I do, a lame old man, but sing hymns to God? If I were a nightingale, I would do the nightingale's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/what-else-can-i-do-a-lame-old-man-but-sing-hymns-to-god-if-i-were-a/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [People are disturbed not by things, but by the view they take of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/people-are-disturbed-not-by-things-but-by-the-view-they-take-of-them-2/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“Small-minded people blame others. Average people blame themselves. The wise see all blame as foolishness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/small-minded-people-blame-others-average-people-blame-themselves-the/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/all-philosophy-lies-in-two-words-sustain-and-abstain/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) [Explore all 577 Epictetus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) ## More Delightful quotes > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [In a delightful garden, sowing, planting or digging are not hardship but are done with a zeal and a certain pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/in-a-delightful-garden-sowing-planting-or-digging-are-not-hardship/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [“I never met a pig I didn't like. All pigs are intelligent, emotional, and sensitive souls. They all love company. They all crave contact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sy-montgomery/i-never-met-a-pig-i-didn-t-like-all-pigs-are-intelligent-emotional/) [Sy Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sy-montgomery/) > [It is with the approach of winter that cats...wear their richest fur and assume an air of sumptuous and delightful opulence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-loti/it-is-with-the-approach-of-winter-that-cats-wear-their-richest-fur/) [Pierre Loti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-loti/) > [What a delightful thing this perspective is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-uccello/what-a-delightful-thing-this-perspective-is/) Paolo Uccello > [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Someone on the internet referred to me as 'that horrible little man who's replacing Rob Lowe', which is hurtful, because I think of myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-malina/someone-on-the-internet-referred-to-me-as-that-horrible-little-man/) [Joshua Malina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-malina/) > [Once you get yourself on that path where you're willing to find something delightful in laundry and in dishwashers, it means that you train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bogost/once-you-get-yourself-on-that-path-where-you-re-willing-to-find/) [Ian Bogost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bogost/) > [There are magic moments, involving great physical fatigue and intense motor excitement, that produce visions of people known in the past. As I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-are-magic-moments-involving-great-physical-fatigue-and-intense/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [A solitary American monk named Thomas Berry writes that in our relationship to nature, we have been autistic for centuries. Wrapped tightly in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/a-solitary-american-monk-named-thomas-berry-writes-that-in-our/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [In the mind engaged in struggling with hardship, one always finds something delightful. The sorrow of disappointment arises in the complacency of satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/in-the-mind-engaged-in-struggling-with-hardship-one-always-finds/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [I just adored Peter Medak, the director. He's such a character, but he was so much fun. Some directors come in and they truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-brannagh/i-just-adored-peter-medak-the-director-he-s-such-a-character-but-he/) [Brigid Brannagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-brannagh/) > [The past is so reliable, so delightful and the best place to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-humphries/the-past-is-so-reliable-so-delightful-and-the-best-place-to-live/) [Barry Humphries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-humphries/) > [Nature is so delightful and abundant in its variations that among trees of the same kind there would not be found one which nearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/nature-is-so-delightful-and-abundant-in-its-variations-that-among/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) [Browse all 483 Delightful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delightful/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Epictetus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightful-things-become-the-least/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Delightful" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightful-things-become-the-least/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/epictetus-413_delightful_exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightf_3037740.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/epictetus-413_delightful_exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightf_3037740.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15a/epictetus-413_delightful_exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightf_3037740.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful.” — Epictetus", "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": "Epictetus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Exceed due measure, and the most...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightful-things-become-the-least/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/exceed-due-measure-and-the-most-delightful-things-become-the-least/#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 } } ] } ```