--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Frivolity is the species' refusal to…" description: "\"Frivolity is the species' refusal to suffer.\" — John Lahr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/john-lahr-15002_frivolity_frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suff_2282498.png" --- # Frivolity is the species' refusal to suffer. ![“Frivolity is the species' refusal to suffer.” quote by John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/john-lahr-15002_frivolity_frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suff_2282498.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/john-lahr-15002_frivolity_frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suff_2282498.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/john-lahr-15002_frivolity_frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suff_2282498.png) > “Frivolity is the species' refusal to suffer.” [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Frivolity is the species' refusal to suffer. **In simple terms:** Avoiding pain leads to shallow, fleeting pleasure. Key Takeaway Choosing comfort over growth prevents deeper fulfillment. Themes comfort avoidance shallow pleasure Mood reflective critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - everyday leisure - consumer culture - short‑term decisions - risk of stagnation Key Concepts hedonism existentialism Questions to Reflect On - Do you sacrifice growth for ease? - What does suffering teach? A Different Perspective May ignore long‑term consequences of avoiding discomfort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Frivolity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frivolity/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [Also, perhaps children are sterner than grown-up people in their refusal to suffer, in their refusal, even, to feel at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/also-perhaps-children-are-sterner-than-grown-up-people-in-their/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/lord-send-your-life-throughout-the-entire-church-visit-your-church/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [a connotation of infinity sharpens the temporal splendor of this night when souls which have forgot frivolity in lowliness,noting the fatal flight of worlds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-connotation-of-infinity-sharpens-the-temporal-splendor-of-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We are being at once wisely aware of our own frivolity if we avoid hitting and whacking and prefer 'striking' and 'smiting'; talk and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/we-are-being-at-once-wisely-aware-of-our-own-frivolity-if-we-avoid/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [I am a reasonable and sane functionalist tempered by irrational frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-girard/i-am-a-reasonable-and-sane-functionalist-tempered-by-irrational/) Alexander Girard > [The beet is the most intense of vegetables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-beet-is-the-most-intense-of-vegetables/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [I used to do films for money earlier. I never knew what perception meant. I didn't give too much attention to scripts. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emraan-hashmi/i-used-to-do-films-for-money-earlier-i-never-knew-what-perception/) [Emraan Hashmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emraan-hashmi/) > [“It is at these troubled periods that frivolity, even license, are most easily understood, "because one enjoys with gusto what tomorrow may belong to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-radiguet/it-is-at-these-troubled-periods-that-frivolity-even-license-are-most/) [Raymond Radiguet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-radiguet/) > [Fashionable women regard themselves, and are regarded by men, as pretty toys or as mere instruments of pleasure; and the vacuity of mind, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moore-grimke/fashionable-women-regard-themselves-and-are-regarded-by-men-as-pretty/) [Sarah Moore Grimke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moore-grimke/) > [Our large trading cities bear to me very nearly the aspect of monastic establishments in which the roar of the mill-wheel and the crane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/our-large-trading-cities-bear-to-me-very-nearly-the-aspect-of/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [Seriously, I think it is a grave fault in life that so much time is wasted in social matters, because it not only takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/seriously-i-think-it-is-a-grave-fault-in-life-that-so-much-time-is/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [The people of the United States, perhaps more than any other nation in history, love to abase themselves and proclaim their unworthiness, and seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/the-people-of-the-united-states-perhaps-more-than-any-other-nation-in/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [“She had debated, in the frivolity of the beginning, whether to build a hole or a tower; a hole, because she was fond of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keri-hulme/she-had-debated-in-the-frivolity-of-the-beginning-whether-to-build-a/) [Keri Hulme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keri-hulme/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The higher powers of the reflective intellect are more decidedly and more usefully tasked by the unostentatious game of draughts than by all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-intellect-are-more-decidedly-and/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## More by John Lahr > [The British playwright Nina Raine is one of her generation's most promising talents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/the-british-playwright-nina-raine-is-one-of-her-generation-s-most/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [Broadway shows in New York draw two times the attendance of all New York sports teams put together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/broadway-shows-in-new-york-draw-two-times-the-attendance-of-all-new/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [The pigeons are shitting on George M. Cohan. I shoo them off. They fly up and perch on his hat. Cohan would've never given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/the-pigeons-are-shitting-on-george-m-cohan-i-shoo-them-off-they-fly/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [I go to the theatre expecting to have a good time. I want each play and performance to take me somewhere. Naturally, this doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/i-go-to-the-theatre-expecting-to-have-a-good-time-i-want-each-play/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [Dame Edna is that rarest sighting in our time of the absolute comic, an inspired personification of caprice whose comedy answered the primal call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/dame-edna-is-that-rarest-sighting-in-our-time-of-the-absolute-comic/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [We were postwar middle-class white kids living in the slipstream of the greatest per-capita rise in income in the history of Western civilization; we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/we-were-postwar-middle-class-white-kids-living-in-the-slipstream-of/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [Momentum was part of the exhilaration and the exhaustion of the twentieth century which Coward decoded for the British but borrowed wholesale from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/momentum-was-part-of-the-exhilaration-and-the-exhaustion-of-the/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [Death of a Salesman' is a brilliant taxonomy of the spiritual atrophy of mid-twentieth-century white America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/death-of-a-salesman-is-a-brilliant-taxonomy-of-the-spiritual-atrophy/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [I detest literature. I abominate the theatre. I have a horror of culture. I am only interested in magic!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/i-detest-literature-i-abominate-the-theatre-i-have-a-horror-of/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [Entertainment is not politically neutral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/entertainment-is-not-politically-neutral/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [In 1957, 'West Side Story' had introduced the musical to the reckless dark side of teen-age life; 'Bye Bye Birdie,' set in Sweet Apple,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/in-1957-west-side-story-had-introduced-the-musical-to-the-reckless/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [The New Yorker's' drama critics have always had a comparable authority because, for the most part, the magazine made it a practice to employ…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/the-new-yorker-s-drama-critics-have-always-had-a-comparable-authority/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [I know in an existential sense that life can change on a dime ... something has instantly and inexorably changed in American life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/i-know-in-an-existential-sense-that-life-can-change-on-a-dime/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [Writers don't always know what they mean - that's why they write. Their work stands in for them. On the page, the reader meets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/writers-don-t-always-know-what-they-mean-that-s-why-they-write-their/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) > [Tony Awards boost Broadway attendance and sell the shows on the road. They're the sugar to swat the fly. If you needed more explanation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/tony-awards-boost-broadway-attendance-and-sell-the-shows-on-the-road/) [John Lahr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) [Explore all 44 John Lahr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/) ## More Frivolity quotes > [Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/lord-send-your-life-throughout-the-entire-church-visit-your-church/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [“She had debated, in the frivolity of the beginning, whether to build a hole or a tower; a hole, because she was fond of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keri-hulme/she-had-debated-in-the-frivolity-of-the-beginning-whether-to-build-a/) [Keri Hulme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keri-hulme/) > [The people of the United States, perhaps more than any other nation in history, love to abase themselves and proclaim their unworthiness, and seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/the-people-of-the-united-states-perhaps-more-than-any-other-nation-in/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Seriously, I think it is a grave fault in life that so much time is wasted in social matters, because it not only takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/seriously-i-think-it-is-a-grave-fault-in-life-that-so-much-time-is/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [Our large trading cities bear to me very nearly the aspect of monastic establishments in which the roar of the mill-wheel and the crane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/our-large-trading-cities-bear-to-me-very-nearly-the-aspect-of/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [Fashionable women regard themselves, and are regarded by men, as pretty toys or as mere instruments of pleasure; and the vacuity of mind, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moore-grimke/fashionable-women-regard-themselves-and-are-regarded-by-men-as-pretty/) [Sarah Moore Grimke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moore-grimke/) > [“It is at these troubled periods that frivolity, even license, are most easily understood, "because one enjoys with gusto what tomorrow may belong to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-radiguet/it-is-at-these-troubled-periods-that-frivolity-even-license-are-most/) [Raymond Radiguet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-radiguet/) > [I used to do films for money earlier. I never knew what perception meant. I didn't give too much attention to scripts. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emraan-hashmi/i-used-to-do-films-for-money-earlier-i-never-knew-what-perception/) [Emraan Hashmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emraan-hashmi/) > [The beet is the most intense of vegetables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-beet-is-the-most-intense-of-vegetables/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [I am a reasonable and sane functionalist tempered by irrational frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-girard/i-am-a-reasonable-and-sane-functionalist-tempered-by-irrational/) Alexander Girard > [We are being at once wisely aware of our own frivolity if we avoid hitting and whacking and prefer 'striking' and 'smiting'; talk and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/we-are-being-at-once-wisely-aware-of-our-own-frivolity-if-we-avoid/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [a connotation of infinity sharpens the temporal splendor of this night when souls which have forgot frivolity in lowliness,noting the fatal flight of worlds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-connotation-of-infinity-sharpens-the-temporal-splendor-of-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The higher powers of the reflective intellect are more decidedly and more usefully tasked by the unostentatious game of draughts than by all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-intellect-are-more-decidedly-and/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [The \*\*\*\*\* is indolent and lazy, and spends his money on frivolities, whereas the European is forward-looking, organized and intelligent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/the-is-indolent-and-lazy-and-spends-his-money-on-frivolities-whereas/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) [Browse all 88 Frivolity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frivolity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Frivolity is the species' refusal to suffer.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Lahr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suffer/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Frivolity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suffer/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/john-lahr-15002_frivolity_frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suff_2282498.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/john-lahr-15002_frivolity_frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suff_2282498.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/john-lahr-15002_frivolity_frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suff_2282498.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Frivolity is the species' refusal to suffer.” — John Lahr", "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": "John Lahr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lahr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Frivolity is the species' refusal to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suffer/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lahr/frivolity-is-the-species-refusal-to-suffer/#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 } } ] } ```