--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If one oversteps the bounds of…" description: "\"If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.\" — Epictetus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/epictetus-413_bounds_if-one-oversteps-the-bounds-of-moderatio_755853.jpg" --- # If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest… ![“If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/epictetus-413_bounds_if-one-oversteps-the-bounds-of-moderatio_755853.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/epictetus-413_bounds_if-one-oversteps-the-bounds-of-moderatio_755853.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/epictetus-413_bounds_if-one-oversteps-the-bounds-of-moderatio_755853.jpg) > “If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.” [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. Excessive indulgence erodes enjoyment, as moderation sustains pleasure. **In simple terms:** Too much pleasure loses its appeal. Key Takeaway Practice moderation to preserve joy. Themes moderation pleasure self‑control Mood reflective calm Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - diet - entertainment - spending - social gatherings Key Concepts stoicism ethics Questions to Reflect On - What pleasures have you overindulged in? - How can you set balanced limits? A Different Perspective Human desire often pushes beyond moderation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bounds/) [Bounds Moderation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bounds-moderation-2431859/) [Cease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease/) [Moderation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moderation/) [Moderation Greatest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moderation-greatest-5870277/) [Please](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/please/) [Pleasures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasures/) [Pleasures Cease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasures-cease-4835725/) ## Related quotes > [Everything that exceeds the bounds of moderation has an unstable foundation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/everything-that-exceeds-the-bounds-of-moderation-has-an-unstable/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [“God appeases our animal fears and the unbearable prospect that someday all our pleasures will cease.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/god-appeases-our-animal-fears-and-the-unbearable-prospect-that/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [To go beyond the bounds of moderation is to outrage humanity. The greatness of the human soul is shown by knowing how to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/to-go-beyond-the-bounds-of-moderation-is-to-outrage-humanity-the/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [To go beyond the bounds of moderation is to outrage humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/to-go-beyond-the-bounds-of-moderation-is-to-outrage-humanity/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [As to the lawful pleasures of the mind, the heart, or the senses, indulge in them with gratitude and moderation, drawing up sometimes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-henri-lacordaire/as-to-the-lawful-pleasures-of-the-mind-the-heart-or-the-senses/) [Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-henri-lacordaire/) > [Innocent pleasures in moderation can provide relaxation for the body and mind and can foster family and other relationships. But pleasure, per se, offers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/innocent-pleasures-in-moderation-can-provide-relaxation-for-the-body/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [Of pleasures, those which occur most rarely give the most delight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/of-pleasures-those-which-occur-most-rarely-give-the-most-delight/) [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/) > [“A life lived in moderation is a story nobody would read, much less live”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-keene/a-life-lived-in-moderation-is-a-story-nobody-would-read-much-less-live/) [D.A. Keene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-keene/) > [The boundary of man is moderation. When once we pass that pale our guardian angel quits his charge of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-feltham/the-boundary-of-man-is-moderation-when-once-we-pass-that-pale-our/) [Owen Feltham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-feltham/) > [Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is affected by the licentious passions and vices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/be-a-pattern-to-others-and-then-all-will-go-well-for-as-a-whole-city/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Phillip, who is congenitally incapable of moderation,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/phillip-who-is-congenitally-incapable-of-moderation/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [There has been a tendency through the years for reason and moderation to prevail as long as things are going tolerably well or as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/there-has-been-a-tendency-through-the-years-for-reason-and-moderation/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Moderation, honey, in all things but love and chocolate. That's my motto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bretton/moderation-honey-in-all-things-but-love-and-chocolate-that-s-my-motto/) [Barbara Bretton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bretton/) ## 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 Bounds quotes > [Man will not always stay on Earth; the pursuit of light and space will lead him to penetrate the bounds of the atmosphere, timidly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konstantin-tsiolkovsky/man-will-not-always-stay-on-earth-the-pursuit-of-light-and-space-will/) [Konstantin Tsiolkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konstantin-tsiolkovsky/) > [Importunity is a condition of prayer. We are to press the matter, not with vain repetitions, but with urgent repetitions. 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Each soul is a Compos'tor, of whose faults The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/the-world-s-a-printing-house-our-words-our-thoughts-our-deeds-are/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [Christian obligation cannot be made to accord with a law of expediency. The Christian's maxims are, Do right because you are bound to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-landey-patton/christian-obligation-cannot-be-made-to-accord-with-a-law-of/) [Francis Landey Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-landey-patton/) > [Such as the chain of causes we call Fate, such is the chain of wishes: one links on to another; the whole man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/such-as-the-chain-of-causes-we-call-fate-such-is-the-chain-of-wishes/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > ['You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we . . .' 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