--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As human beings, our only sensible scale…" description: "\"As human beings, our only sensible scale of values is one based on lessening the agony of existence.\" — H. P. Lovecraft" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_agony_as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale_885091.png" --- # As human beings, our only sensible scale of values is one… ![“As human beings, our only sensible scale of values is one based on lessening the agony of existence.” quote by H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_agony_as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale_885091.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_agony_as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale_885091.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_agony_as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale_885091.png) > “As human beings, our only sensible scale of values is one based on lessening the agony of existence.” [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates minimizing suffering as the primary moral metric for humanity **In simple terms:** Reduce suffering to define values Key Takeaway Prioritize alleviating pain in ethical decisions Themes ethics humanity philosophy Mood reflective somber Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - policy making - medical ethics - charitable work - personal conduct Key Concepts suffering reduction moral calculus existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How can societies objectively assess suffering? - What alternatives exist to a suffering‑centered ethic? A Different Perspective Measuring suffering can be subjective and complex ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agony/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Sensible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensible/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [Successfully reframing the climate debate in the United States from one based on environmental values to one based on health values...holds great promise to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/successfully-reframing-the-climate-debate-in-the-united-states-from/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [Communicating and celebrating the times when individuals have made values-based decisions is, of course, empowering and can provide role models. But perhaps more importantly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-c-gentile/communicating-and-celebrating-the-times-when-individuals-have-made/) [Mary C. Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-c-gentile/) > [Values-based business behavior is no longer simply an interesting option - it's crucial to your survival. Once you understand your mission and values, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-blanchard/values-based-business-behavior-is-no-longer-simply-an-interesting/) [Ken Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-blanchard/) > [Good hearts carry weighing balance that measures others' values based on the character merely than ever with their attire, wealth, rank or position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/good-hearts-carry-weighing-balance-that-measures-others-values-based/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) > [I realized that all my life, my values were based upon typical middle-class American values: hard work, doing good, living well, owning things, following…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-realized-that-all-my-life-my-values-were-based-upon-typical-middle/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“The family farm is failing because the pattern it belongs to is failing, and the principal reason for this failure is the universal adoption,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-family-farm-is-failing-because-the-pattern-it-belongs-to-is/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [My values are not based on violence. My values are based on courage, which you see time and time again in my books. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-jacques/my-values-are-not-based-on-violence-my-values-are-based-on-courage/) [Brian Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-jacques/) > [I love it when the left and when the president say, 'Don't try to impose your values on us, you folks who hold your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-santorum/i-love-it-when-the-left-and-when-the-president-say-don-t-try-to/) [Rick Santorum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-santorum/) > [I very much believe in values-based leadership and that the values that I believe in and try to govern by are transcendent values.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/i-very-much-believe-in-values-based-leadership-and-that-the-values/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [“However, if the key to a values-based organization is really the people, then leaders need to spend a lot more time developing the team…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-m-kraemer/however-if-the-key-to-a-values-based-organization-is-really-the/) Harry M. Kraemer > [The Left has always sought single, non-values-based explanations for human behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/the-left-has-always-sought-single-non-values-based-explanations-for/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [I can say firsthand Under Armour is a values-based people company, and this hasn't deviated for any administration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-droga/i-can-say-firsthand-under-armour-is-a-values-based-people-company-and/) [David Droga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-droga/) > [Convinced that behavior and conduct are every bit as important as skills and expertise, I sought to build the firm into an enduring, values-based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-bower/convinced-that-behavior-and-conduct-are-every-bit-as-important-as/) [Marvin Bower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-bower/) > [“aaron would not come out aaron entered into agony.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/aaron-would-not-come-out-aaron-entered-into-agony/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) > [Many Republicans have always reminded me of professional WWF wrestlers. They come into the ring all pumped up and acting like they're invincible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/many-republicans-have-always-reminded-me-of-professional-wwf/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) ## More by H. P. Lovecraft > [It is the night-black Massachusetts legendry which packs the really macabre "kick". Here is material for a really profound study in group-neuroticism; for certainly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-is-the-night-black-massachusetts-legendry-which-packs-the-really/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [“Sounds—possibly musical—heard in the night from other worlds or realms of being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/sounds-possibly-musical-heard-in-the-night-from-other-worlds-or/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Very few minds are strictly normal, and all religious fanatics are marked with abnormalities of various sorts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/very-few-minds-are-strictly-normal-and-all-religious-fanatics-are/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [It's not a bad idea to call this Cthulhuism & Yog-Sothothery of mine "The Mythology of Hastur" - although it was really from Machen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/it-s-not-a-bad-idea-to-call-this-cthulhuism-yog-sothothery-of-mine/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-appeal-of-the-spectrally-macabre-is-generally-narrow-because-it/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [There are probably seven persons, in all, who really like my work; and they are enough. I should write even if I were the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/there-are-probably-seven-persons-in-all-who-really-like-my-work-and/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Nothing is really typical of my efforts... I'm simply casting about for better ways to crystallise and capture certain strong impressions (involving the elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/nothing-is-really-typical-of-my-efforts-i-m-simply-casting-about-for/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Thus I began my systematic though half-bewildered tour of Innsmouth's narrow, shadow-blighted ways. Crossing the bridge and turning toward the roar of the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/thus-i-began-my-systematic-though-half-bewildered-tour-of-innsmouth-s/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Of what use is it to please the herd? They are simply coarse animals - for all that is admirable in man is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/of-what-use-is-it-to-please-the-herd-they-are-simply-coarse-animals/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [“How little does the earth self know life and its extent! How little, indeed, ought it to know for its own tranquility!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/how-little-does-the-earth-self-know-life-and-its-extent-how-little/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [The trees grew too thickly, and their trunks were too big for any healthy New England wood. There was too much silence in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-trees-grew-too-thickly-and-their-trunks-were-too-big-for-any/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Plots may be simple or complex, but suspense, and climactic progress from one incident to another, are essential. Every incident in a fictional work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/plots-may-be-simple-or-complex-but-suspense-and-climactic-progress/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/searchers-after-horror-haunt-strange-far-places/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Cosmic terror appears as an ingredient of the earliest folklore of all races and is crystallised in the most archaic ballads, chronicles, and sacred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/cosmic-terror-appears-as-an-ingredient-of-the-earliest-folklore-of/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Truth is of no practical value to mankind save as it affects terrestrial phenomena, hence the discoveries of science should be concealed or glossed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/truth-is-of-no-practical-value-to-mankind-save-as-it-affects/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) [Explore all 244 H. P. Lovecraft quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) ## More Agony quotes > [Many Republicans have always reminded me of professional WWF wrestlers. They come into the ring all pumped up and acting like they're invincible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/many-republicans-have-always-reminded-me-of-professional-wwf/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [“aaron would not come out aaron entered into agony.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/aaron-would-not-come-out-aaron-entered-into-agony/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) > [ “\[W\]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… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [As we look upon that agony and those tearful prayers, let us not only look with thankfulness; but let that kneeling Saviour teach us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/as-we-look-upon-that-agony-and-those-tearful-prayers-let-us-not-only/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) > [Love masters agony; the soul that seemed Forsaken feels her present God again And in her Father's arms Contented dies away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keble/love-masters-agony-the-soul-that-seemed-forsaken-feels-her-present/) [John Keble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keble/) > [I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/i-have-seen-war-i-have-seen-war-on-land-and-sea-i-have-seen-blood/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [“Anger was a reliable defense, but one that allowed no chance of final victory. Anger was a medicine but never a cure, briefly numbing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/anger-was-a-reliable-defense-but-one-that-allowed-no-chance-of-final/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [The cure is in the house, not brought by other hands from distant places, but by its own, in agony and blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/the-cure-is-in-the-house-not-brought-by-other-hands-from-distant/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [Sometimes, a lie is told in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sometimes-a-lie-is-told-in-kindness-i-don-t-believe-it-ever-works/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [The young man shivered. He rolled the stock themes of fantasy over in his mind: cars and stockbrokers and commuters, housewives and police, agony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-young-man-shivered-he-rolled-the-stock-themes-of-fantasy-over-in/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Being ill like this combines shock - this time I will die - with a pain and agony that are unfamiliar, that wrench me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-brodkey/being-ill-like-this-combines-shock-this-time-i-will-die-with-a-pain/) [Harold Brodkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-brodkey/) > [One often learns more from ten days of agony than ten years of contentment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merle-shain/one-often-learns-more-from-ten-days-of-agony-than-ten-years-of/) [Merle Shain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merle-shain/) > [There’s been a problem, a problem eating away at me from the inside out. I’ve become weak, I’ve shown human compassion, and it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kane/there-s-been-a-problem-a-problem-eating-away-at-me-from-the-inside/) [Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kane/) > [Pay special attention to their agony so I might take some pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/pay-special-attention-to-their-agony-so-i-might-take-some-pleasure/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [Die, enemies of Ra!" Sekhemet yelled. "Perish in agony!" "She's almost as annoying as you," I told Horus. "Impossible," Horus said. "No one bests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/die-enemies-of-ra-sekhemet-yelled-perish-in-agony-she-s-almost-as/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) [Browse all 813 Agony quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agony/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As human beings, our only sensible scale of values is one based on lessening the agony of existence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. P. Lovecraft" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale-of-values-is-one-based-on/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Agony" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale-of-values-is-one-based-on/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_agony_as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale_885091.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_agony_as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale_885091.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3a/h-p-lovecraft-1408_agony_as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale_885091.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As human beings, our only sensible scale of values is one based on lessening the agony of existence.” — H. P. Lovecraft", "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": "H. P. Lovecraft", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "As human beings, our only sensible...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale-of-values-is-one-based-on/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/as-human-beings-our-only-sensible-scale-of-values-is-one-based-on/#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 } } ] } ```