--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pleasure is, after all, a luxury. It's…" description: "\"Pleasure is, after all, a luxury. It's love that's essential.\" — John Dufresne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/john-dufresne-11991_essentials_pleasure-is-after-all-a-luxury-it-s-love_1263448.png" --- # Pleasure is, after all, a luxury. It's love that's… ![“Pleasure is, after all, a luxury. It's love that's essential.” quote by John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/john-dufresne-11991_essentials_pleasure-is-after-all-a-luxury-it-s-love_1263448.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/john-dufresne-11991_essentials_pleasure-is-after-all-a-luxury-it-s-love_1263448.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4db/john-dufresne-11991_essentials_pleasure-is-after-all-a-luxury-it-s-love_1263448.png) > “Pleasure is, after all, a luxury. It's love that's essential.” [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pleasure is a luxury, while love is essential, suggesting love's fundamental role over fleeting enjoyment. **In simple terms:** Love is essential, pleasure is optional. Key Takeaway Prioritize love over superficial pleasures. Themes love pleasure values essentialism Mood thoughtful balanced Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - relationships - life choices - well-being Key Concepts philosophy ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance love and pleasure? - When is pleasure essential? A Different Perspective Pleasure can also be meaningful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Luxury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luxury/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) ## Related quotes > [I used to believe that love and happiness were synonymous. I was a fool. Love intensifies all emotions. Nothing is so painful o so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/i-used-to-believe-that-love-and-happiness-were-synonymous-i-was-a/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [Love is a luxury." "No. Love is an element." An element. Like air to breathe, earth to stand on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/love-is-a-luxury-no-love-is-an-element-an-element-like-air-to-breathe/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [“Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure, or the luxury of a regrate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/nothing-remains-then-but-the-recollection-of-a-pleasure-or-the-luxury/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Usually you're forced to do what necessity demands, and pleasure is a luxury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-connors/usually-you-re-forced-to-do-what-necessity-demands-and-pleasure-is-a/) [Mike Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-connors/) > [Love is our essential nutrient. Without it, life has little meaning. It's the best thing we have to give and the most valuable thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/love-is-our-essential-nutrient-without-it-life-has-little-meaning-it/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [To love the plateau is to love what is most essential and enduring in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-leonard/to-love-the-plateau-is-to-love-what-is-most-essential-and-enduring-in/) [George Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-leonard/) > [“I was overwhelmed with the privilege it is to parent another human being, the luxury of love, the decadence of caring.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-rodgers/i-was-overwhelmed-with-the-privilege-it-is-to-parent-another-human/) [Joni Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-rodgers/) > [“I have never been drawn to luxury. I love the simple things; coffee shops, books, and people who try to understand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-ys-perez/i-have-never-been-drawn-to-luxury-i-love-the-simple-things-coffee/) [R. YS Perez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-ys-perez/) > [I do love five-star luxury, but I also love the sort of hotels that are run by an eccentric lady with great stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michaela-strachan/i-do-love-five-star-luxury-but-i-also-love-the-sort-of-hotels-that/) [Michaela Strachan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michaela-strachan/) > [“Love? Royalty doesn't have the luxury of love! Didn't your mothers teach you that?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowena-cory-daniells/love-royalty-doesn-t-have-the-luxury-of-love-didn-t-your-mothers/) Rowena Cory Daniells > [“I suddenly knew it wasn't only the wonderful luxury of being in love that had been buoying me up: deep down, in some vague,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/i-suddenly-knew-it-wasn-t-only-the-wonderful-luxury-of-being-in-love/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [I think it's a luxury when you love the thing you're promoting, and then you don't have to try to think of something, try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-waterston/i-think-it-s-a-luxury-when-you-love-the-thing-you-re-promoting-and/) [Katherine Waterston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-waterston/) > [I love luxury, I love the high life, and I have to foot the bills - I have received practically nothing from my marriages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britt-ekland/i-love-luxury-i-love-the-high-life-and-i-have-to-foot-the-bills-i/) [Britt Ekland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britt-ekland/) > [I represent luxury, and that's what I love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimora-lee-simmons/i-represent-luxury-and-that-s-what-i-love/) [Kimora Lee Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimora-lee-simmons/) > [“I decided love was essential. The problem was the timing. Human beings hesitate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-decided-love-was-essential-the-problem-was-the-timing-human-beings/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More by John Dufresne > [You lose a wallet or keys or something and you notice in a second, but your life can go missing and you don't even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/you-lose-a-wallet-or-keys-or-something-and-you-notice-in-a-second-but/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [“At 9:15 on Thursday morning, June 4, while Jordan Delreese was bludgeoning his two young children to death, I was sitting in Dr. Hamburger's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/at-9-15-on-thursday-morning-june-4-while-jordan-delreese-was/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [We all sleep with the corpses of our dead lovers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/we-all-sleep-with-the-corpses-of-our-dead-lovers/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [I learned to love stories by listening to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/i-learned-to-love-stories-by-listening-to-them/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [You will feel discouraged; you will lose confidence in your abilities; you will be bored with the characters–and the only way to overcome these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/you-will-feel-discouraged-you-will-lose-confidence-in-your-abilities/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [There were the fairy tales my father told to me at bedtime. All the standards. I thought my father invented wolves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/there-were-the-fairy-tales-my-father-told-to-me-at-bedtime-all-the/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [If you think about it, fiction is nothing more than gossip about the people you've made up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/if-you-think-about-it-fiction-is-nothing-more-than-gossip-about-the/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [I revise like crazy. I start revising before the pen hits the paper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/i-revise-like-crazy-i-start-revising-before-the-pen-hits-the-paper/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [“I loved her for what I couldn't understand about her. Love searches for the mystery in the beloved, seeks the unknowable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/i-loved-her-for-what-i-couldn-t-understand-about-her-love-searches/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [“I told her how I thought you could always revise your life, how you could work and work on it, finesse the details, see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/i-told-her-how-i-thought-you-could-always-revise-your-life-how-you/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [A lack of narrative structure, as you know, will cause anxiety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/a-lack-of-narrative-structure-as-you-know-will-cause-anxiety/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [I write with a fountain pen. And then revise word by word and line by line so that the first draft of a scene…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/i-write-with-a-fountain-pen-and-then-revise-word-by-word-and-line-by/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [With each draft, the work gets better, and usually that means tighter. It means getting the precise word, not the approximate word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/with-each-draft-the-work-gets-better-and-usually-that-means-tighter/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [Novels are written, not wished into existence. You have to sit your ass in the chair or nothing gets done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/novels-are-written-not-wished-into-existence-you-have-to-sit-your-ass/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) > [In revision, your imagination becomes deeply engaged with your material. It's when you come to know your characters and begin to perceive their motivations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dufresne/in-revision-your-imagination-becomes-deeply-engaged-with-your/) [John Dufresne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) [Explore all 57 John Dufresne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dufresne/) ## More Essentials quotes > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [History is, in its essentials, the science of change. 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Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Cultivate the habit of thinking ahead, and of anticipating the necessary and immediate consequences of all your actions… Likewise in your pleasures, ask yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/cultivate-the-habit-of-thinking-ahead-and-of-anticipating-the/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [Developing expertise or assets that are not easily copied is essential; otherwise you're just a middleman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/developing-expertise-or-assets-that-are-not-easily-copied-is/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-child-reminds-us-that-playtime-is-an-essential-part-of-our-daily/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The rights essential to happiness. . . . We claim them from a higher source - from the King of kings and Lord of all the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickinson/the-rights-essential-to-happiness-we-claim-them-from-a-higher-source/) [John Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickinson/) > [The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-essential-functions-of-the-mind-consist-in-understanding-and-in/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [They are the gateway for our modern esthetic development, the prophets of the new time. They are most of all, the primitives of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/they-are-the-gateway-for-our-modern-esthetic-development-the-prophets/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [Intellectual methods-study and reason-are essential to our progress toward eternal life, but they are not sufficient. They can prepare the way. They can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/intellectual-methods-study-and-reason-are-essential-to-our-progress/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [It is essential for world peace that the world religions make peace with each other. 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