--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pleasure is sweetest when 'tis paid for…" description: "\"Pleasure is sweetest when 'tis paid for by another's pain.\" — Ovid" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/ovid-276_paid_pleasure-is-sweetest-when-tis-paid-for-b_2839149.png" --- # Pleasure is sweetest when 'tis paid for by another's pain. ![“Pleasure is sweetest when 'tis paid for by another's pain.” quote by Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/ovid-276_paid_pleasure-is-sweetest-when-tis-paid-for-b_2839149.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/ovid-276_paid_pleasure-is-sweetest-when-tis-paid-for-b_2839149.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/ovid-276_paid_pleasure-is-sweetest-when-tis-paid-for-b_2839149.png) > “Pleasure is sweetest when 'tis paid for by another's pain.” [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## 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 most intense when it comes at the expense of another’s suffering **In simple terms:** Joy feels strongest when others suffer Key Takeaway Beware of deriving joy from others’ pain Themes ethics pleasure pain Mood cynical thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - Analyzing literature - ethical debates - psychology of enjoyment Key Concepts Moral paradox human cruelty Greek mythology Questions to Reflect On - Why do we sometimes enjoy others’ misfortune? - How can empathy counteract this tendency? A Different Perspective Historical context differs; literal vs. metaphorical reading ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Sadism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadism/) ## Related quotes > [Expense paid, but the pain will never go away, disdained, wanna hear her say I missed you mane. 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Pride was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/there-had-been-an-attempt-to-humiliate-him-it-had-not-succeeded-he/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [Tears gratify a savage nature, they do not melt it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/tears-gratify-a-savage-nature-they-do-not-melt-it/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [When I was a baby feminist, leading feminist thinkers were insisting that if women ran the world, there would be no sadism or war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/when-i-was-a-baby-feminist-leading-feminist-thinkers-were-insisting/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“Was it boredom or sadism that made the shirt service people do up every single button?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/was-it-boredom-or-sadism-that-made-the-shirt-service-people-do-up/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Yet I had not bargained for this, the girl with tears hanging on her cheeks like stuck pearls, her cunt a split fig below…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/yet-i-had-not-bargained-for-this-the-girl-with-tears-hanging-on-her/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“The entire affective world, constructed over the years with utmost difficulty, collapses with a kick in the father's genitals, a smack on the mother's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacobo-timerman/the-entire-affective-world-constructed-over-the-years-with-utmost/) [Jacobo Timerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacobo-timerman/) > [“Sadism dominates the culture. It runs like an electric current through reality television and trash-talk programs, is at the core of pornography, and fuels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/sadism-dominates-the-culture-it-runs-like-an-electric-current-through-2/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Sadism dominates the culture. 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Natural aggression, for example, becomes brutal sadism which then is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-suppression-of-natural-sexual-gratification-leads-to-various/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [Pornography reveals that male pleasure is inextricably tied to victimizing, hurting, exploiting; that sexual fun and sexual passion in the privacy of the male…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/pornography-reveals-that-male-pleasure-is-inextricably-tied-to/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [As the many male victims of rape in the regime's disgusting jails can testify, this state-run pathology of sexual repression and sexual sadism is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/as-the-many-male-victims-of-rape-in-the-regime-s-disgusting-jails-can/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“The difference between lay and lie is like the difference between sadism and masochism: one means doing something to someone (or something) else, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-baranick/the-difference-between-lay-and-lie-is-like-the-difference-between/) [Jenny Baranick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-baranick/) > [“Many governments employ torture but this was the first time that the element of Saturnalia and pornography in the process had been made so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/many-governments-employ-torture-but-this-was-the-first-time-that-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## More by Ovid > [Every woman thinks herself attractive; even the plainest is satisfied with the charms she deems that she possesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/every-woman-thinks-herself-attractive-even-the-plainest-is-satisfied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [ A mind conscious of right laughs at the falsehoods of rumour. \[Lat., Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/a-mind-conscious-of-right-laughs-at-the-falsehoods-of-rumour-lat/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Time is generally the best doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-is-generally-the-best-doctor/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-convenient-that-there-be-gods-and-as-it-is-convenient-let-us/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/i-hate-a-woman-who-offers-herself-because-she-ought-to-do-so-and-cold/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [The sea's vast depths lie open to the fish; Wherever the breezes blow the bird may fly; So to the brave man every land's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-sea-s-vast-depths-lie-open-to-the-fish-wherever-the-breezes-blow/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Rare is the virtue that's not ruled by Fortune, That stands unshaken even when Fortune flees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/rare-is-the-virtue-that-s-not-ruled-by-fortune-that-stands-unshaken/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/thus-all-things-altered-nothing-dies-and-here-and-there-the-unbodied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/how-little-is-the-promise-of-the-child-fulfilled-in-the-man/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Judgement of beauty can err, what with the wine and the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/judgement-of-beauty-can-err-what-with-the-wine-and-the-dark/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Leave war to others; 'tis Protesilaus' part of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/leave-war-to-others-tis-protesilaus-part-of-love/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Remove but the temptations of leisure, and the bow of Cupid will lose its effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/remove-but-the-temptations-of-leisure-and-the-bow-of-cupid-will-lose/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) [Explore all 771 Ovid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## More Paid quotes > [Forget the credit, they (male actors) take all the money as well. 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