--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When the idea of any pleasure strikes…" description: "\"When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the pleasure and that of the repentance that is..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/epictetus-413_computation_when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-yo_2619360.jpg" --- # When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination… ![“When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the pleasure and that of the repentance that is likely to follow it.” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/epictetus-413_computation_when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-yo_2619360.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/epictetus-413_computation_when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-yo_2619360.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/epictetus-413_computation_when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-yo_2619360.jpg) > “When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the pleasure and that of the repentance that is likely to follow it.” [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. Weigh short‑term pleasure against long‑term regret before acting. **In simple terms:** Consider future regret before enjoying. Key Takeaway Pause and calculate consequences. Themes self‑control ethics decision‑making Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - choosing indulgence - financial spending - relationships - health habits Key Concepts Stoicism temporal trade‑offs Questions to Reflect On - What future regret might this pleasure cause? - How can you measure long‑term impact? A Different Perspective Pleasure can be fleeting, regret may be lasting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computation/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Repentance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repentance/) [Strikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strikes/) ## Related quotes > [When the Idea, of any Pleasure strikes your Imagination... let that time be employed in making a just Computation between, the duration of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-your-imagination-let-that-time/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [What consoles one nowadays is not repentance but pleasure. Repentance is quite out of date.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/what-consoles-one-nowadays-is-not-repentance-but-pleasure-repentance/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Whew, this might be getting a bit confusing. I hope you are following me so far. This is the point in every Theory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-mitchell/whew-this-might-be-getting-a-bit-confusing-i-hope-you-are-following/) [Melanie Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-mitchell/) > [The Old Testament contains over 300 references to the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Computations using the science of probability on just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-ridenour/the-old-testament-contains-over-300-references-to-the-messiah-that/) Fritz Ridenour > [I have tried to avoid long numerical computations, thereby following Riemann's postulate that proofs should be given through ideas and not voluminous computations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/i-have-tried-to-avoid-long-numerical-computations-thereby-following/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [To me quantum computation is a new and deeper and better way to understand the laws of physics, and hence understanding physical reality as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-deutsch/to-me-quantum-computation-is-a-new-and-deeper-and-better-way-to/) [David Deutsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-deutsch/) > [There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-is-something-going-on-in-time-and-space-and-beyond-time-and/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Some things, like the orbits of the planets, can be calculated far into the future. But that's atypical. In most contexts, there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/some-things-like-the-orbits-of-the-planets-can-be-calculated-far-into/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [The term, information at your fingertips, is to remind people what a broad role the personal computer will be playing. It's not a computation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-term-information-at-your-fingertips-is-to-remind-people-what-a/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [If we suppose that many natural phenomena are in effect computations, the study of computer science can tell us about the kinds of natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-rucker/if-we-suppose-that-many-natural-phenomena-are-in-effect-computations/) [Rudy Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-rucker/) > [If you roll dice, you know that the odds are one in six that the dice will come up on a particular side. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-roll-dice-you-know-that-the-odds-are-one-in-six-that-the-dice/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Can you make fancy patterns of water that actually have some computation power? I'm betting that fluids are complex enough to do this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-tao/can-you-make-fancy-patterns-of-water-that-actually-have-some/) [Terence Tao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-tao/) > [ALGEBRA is a general Method of Computation by certain Signs and Symbols which have been contrived for this Purpose, and found convenient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-maclaurin/algebra-is-a-general-method-of-computation-by-certain-signs-and/) Colin Maclaurin > [Calculators can only calculate - they cannot do mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-van-de-walle/calculators-can-only-calculate-they-cannot-do-mathematics/) John A. Van de Walle > [Fantastic truths perish slower... Sappho's moon will survive the moon of Armstrong. Different computations are necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odysseas-elytis/fantastic-truths-perish-slower-sappho-s-moon-will-survive-the-moon-of/) [Odysseas Elytis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odysseas-elytis/) ## 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 Computation quotes > [Fantastic truths perish slower... Sappho's moon will survive the moon of Armstrong. Different computations are necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odysseas-elytis/fantastic-truths-perish-slower-sappho-s-moon-will-survive-the-moon-of/) [Odysseas Elytis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odysseas-elytis/) > [Calculators can only calculate - they cannot do mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-van-de-walle/calculators-can-only-calculate-they-cannot-do-mathematics/) John A. Van de Walle > [ALGEBRA is a general Method of Computation by certain Signs and Symbols which have been contrived for this Purpose, and found convenient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-maclaurin/algebra-is-a-general-method-of-computation-by-certain-signs-and/) Colin Maclaurin > [Can you make fancy patterns of water that actually have some computation power? I'm betting that fluids are complex enough to do this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-tao/can-you-make-fancy-patterns-of-water-that-actually-have-some/) [Terence Tao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-tao/) > [If you roll dice, you know that the odds are one in six that the dice will come up on a particular side. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/if-you-roll-dice-you-know-that-the-odds-are-one-in-six-that-the-dice/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [If we suppose that many natural phenomena are in effect computations, the study of computer science can tell us about the kinds of natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-rucker/if-we-suppose-that-many-natural-phenomena-are-in-effect-computations/) [Rudy Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-rucker/) > [The term, information at your fingertips, is to remind people what a broad role the personal computer will be playing. It's not a computation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/the-term-information-at-your-fingertips-is-to-remind-people-what-a/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Some things, like the orbits of the planets, can be calculated far into the future. But that's atypical. In most contexts, there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/some-things-like-the-orbits-of-the-planets-can-be-calculated-far-into/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-is-something-going-on-in-time-and-space-and-beyond-time-and/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [To me quantum computation is a new and deeper and better way to understand the laws of physics, and hence understanding physical reality as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-deutsch/to-me-quantum-computation-is-a-new-and-deeper-and-better-way-to/) [David Deutsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-deutsch/) > [I have tried to avoid long numerical computations, thereby following Riemann's postulate that proofs should be given through ideas and not voluminous computations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/i-have-tried-to-avoid-long-numerical-computations-thereby-following/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [The Old Testament contains over 300 references to the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Computations using the science of probability on just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-ridenour/the-old-testament-contains-over-300-references-to-the-messiah-that/) Fritz Ridenour > [“Whew, this might be getting a bit confusing. I hope you are following me so far. This is the point in every Theory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-mitchell/whew-this-might-be-getting-a-bit-confusing-i-hope-you-are-following/) [Melanie Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-mitchell/) > [“Mathematics is not about numbers, equations, computations, or algorithms: it is about understanding”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mathematics-is-not-about-numbers-equations-computations-or-algorithms/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People know, or dimly feel, that if thinking is not kept pure and keen, and if respect for the world of mind is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/people-know-or-dimly-feel-that-if-thinking-is-not-kept-pure-and-keen/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) [Browse all 88 Computation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the pleasure and that of the repentance that is likely to follow it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Epictetus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-your-imagination-make-a-just/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Computation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-your-imagination-make-a-just/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/epictetus-413_computation_when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-yo_2619360.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/epictetus-413_computation_when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-yo_2619360.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/epictetus-413_computation_when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-yo_2619360.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the…” — 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": "When the idea of any pleasure...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-your-imagination-make-a-just/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-the-idea-of-any-pleasure-strikes-your-imagination-make-a-just/#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 } } ] } ```