--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The enjoyments of this life are not equal…" description: "\"The enjoyments of this life are not equal to its evils.\" — Pliny the Elder" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/pliny-the-elder-2838_enjoyment_the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equa_2207166.png" --- # The enjoyments of this life are not equal to its evils. ![“The enjoyments of this life are not equal to its evils.” quote by Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/pliny-the-elder-2838_enjoyment_the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equa_2207166.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/pliny-the-elder-2838_enjoyment_the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equa_2207166.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/pliny-the-elder-2838_enjoyment_the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equa_2207166.png) > “The enjoyments of this life are not equal to its evils.” [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life offers both pleasures and evils, and they are not balanced equally. **In simple terms:** Pleasures outweigh evils. Key Takeaway Recognize and appreciate life's joys. Themes philosophy balance gratitude Mood thoughtful reflective Type maxim philosophical When to use this quote - daily life - personal reflection - decision making Key Concepts Stoicism ethical reflection Questions to Reflect On - How do you prioritize joy over hardship? - What evils do you overlook? A Different Perspective Pleasures may be fleeting; evils can have lasting impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enjoyment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoyment/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [This life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-life/) ## Related quotes > [From social intercourse are derived some of the highest enjoyments of life; where there is a free interchange of sentiments the mind acquires new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/from-social-intercourse-are-derived-some-of-the-highest-enjoyments-of/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [He who has not forgiven an enemy has not yet tasted one of the most sublime enjoyments of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/he-who-has-not-forgiven-an-enemy-has-not-yet-tasted-one-of-the-most/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [Oh winter, king of fire side enjoyments, home born happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/oh-winter-king-of-fire-side-enjoyments-home-born-happiness/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [Our sight is the most perfect and most delightful of all our senses. It fills the mind with the largest variety of ideas, converses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/our-sight-is-the-most-perfect-and-most-delightful-of-all-our-senses/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Nature is a vast repository of manly enjoyments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/nature-is-a-vast-repository-of-manly-enjoyments/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [I'm a person who is only invested in the pleasures and enjoyments of life. All the rest is left to the men. I've always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-vreeland/i-m-a-person-who-is-only-invested-in-the-pleasures-and-enjoyments-of/) [Diana Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-vreeland/) > [He who has not forgiven an enemy has never yet tasted one of the most sublime enjoyments of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/he-who-has-not-forgiven-an-enemy-has-never-yet-tasted-one-of-the-most/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“For once you yourself cease to take pleasure in the common enjoyments of life, you hate the normal man who is so much more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-p-v-d-balsdon/for-once-you-yourself-cease-to-take-pleasure-in-the-common-enjoyments/) J.P.V.D. Balsdon > [Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/health-is-the-soul-that-animates-all-the-enjoyments-of-life-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Men are so inclined to content themselves with what is commonest; the spirit and the senses so easily grow dead to the impressions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/men-are-so-inclined-to-content-themselves-with-what-is-commonest-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [We measure our enjoyments by the sum expended.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-adler/we-measure-our-enjoyments-by-the-sum-expended/) [Felix Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-adler/) > [“There is no major case against life’s enjoyments,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/there-is-no-major-case-against-life-s-enjoyments/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Is it that Nature, attentive to the preservation of mankind, increases our wishes to live, while she lessens our enjoyments, and as she robs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/is-it-that-nature-attentive-to-the-preservation-of-mankind-increases/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [“I cannot understand what pleasures and joys they are that drive people to the overcrowded railways and hotels, into the packed cafés with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/i-cannot-understand-what-pleasures-and-joys-they-are-that-drive/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The center of all my enjoyments is the home wherein are my wife and children, and I have no wish to wander out from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/the-center-of-all-my-enjoyments-is-the-home-wherein-are-my-wife-and/) [Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/) ## More by Pliny the Elder > [Simple diet is best: for many dishes bring many diseases, and rich sauces are worse than even heaping several meats upon each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/simple-diet-is-best-for-many-dishes-bring-many-diseases-and-rich/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [Amid the sufferings of life on earth, suicide is God's best gift to man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/amid-the-sufferings-of-life-on-earth-suicide-is-god-s-best-gift-to-man/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [The happier the moment the shorter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/the-happier-the-moment-the-shorter/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [Indeed, what is there that does not appear marvelous when it comes to our knowledge for the first time? How many things, too, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/indeed-what-is-there-that-does-not-appear-marvelous-when-it-comes-to/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [Accustom yourself to master and overcome things of difficulty; for if you observe, the left hand for want of practice is insignificant, and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/accustom-yourself-to-master-and-overcome-things-of-difficulty-for-if/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [As land is improved by sowing it with various seeds, so is the mind by exercising it with different studies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/as-land-is-improved-by-sowing-it-with-various-seeds-so-is-the-mind-by/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [True happiness consists in being considered deserving of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/true-happiness-consists-in-being-considered-deserving-of-it/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [The largest land animal is the elephant, and it is the nearest to man in intelligence: it understands the language of its country and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/the-largest-land-animal-is-the-elephant-and-it-is-the-nearest-to-man/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [Many dishes bring many diseases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/many-dishes-bring-many-diseases/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [In the literary as well as military world, most powerful abilities will often be found concealed under a rustic garb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/in-the-literary-as-well-as-military-world-most-powerful-abilities/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [Man naturally yearns for novelty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/man-naturally-yearns-for-novelty/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [With man, most of his misfortunes are occasioned by man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/with-man-most-of-his-misfortunes-are-occasioned-by-man/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [Better do nothing than do ill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/better-do-nothing-than-do-ill/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [It is this earth that, like a kind mother, receives us at our birth, and sustains us when born; it is this alone, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/it-is-this-earth-that-like-a-kind-mother-receives-us-at-our-birth-and/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [His only fault is that he has no fault.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/his-only-fault-is-that-he-has-no-fault/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) [Explore all 147 Pliny the Elder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) ## More Enjoyment quotes > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Enjoying life isn't about finding the answers, but living the questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-margolis/enjoying-life-isn-t-about-finding-the-answers-but-living-the-questions/) [Sue Margolis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-margolis/) > [I filmed my first vlog and I think it worked because I wasn't trying to make it work. I was just doing it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-dobrik/i-filmed-my-first-vlog-and-i-think-it-worked-because-i-wasn-t-trying/) [David Dobrik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-dobrik/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [“It all had to be squeezed and squeezed again, to provide a thrill, to provide enjoyment. What did people mean, with their simply determined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence-2/it-all-had-to-be-squeezed-and-squeezed-again-to-provide-a-thrill-to/) [D.H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence-2/) > [Love grows. Lust wastes by Enjoyment, and the Reason is, that one springs from an Union of Souls, and the other from an Union…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/love-grows-lust-wastes-by-enjoyment-and-the-reason-is-that-one/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [Why does a man who is truly in love insist that this relationship must continue and be "lifelong"? Because life is pain and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/why-does-a-man-who-is-truly-in-love-insist-that-this-relationship/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [I think if you're too embroiled in the need to relate too closely to the character, then you start to judge the character for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/i-think-if-you-re-too-embroiled-in-the-need-to-relate-too-closely-to/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [I'm always very fearful when academics get ahold of comedy. Comedy is such a clear thing - people laugh, or they don't laugh. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorne-michaels/i-m-always-very-fearful-when-academics-get-ahold-of-comedy-comedy-is/) [Lorne Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorne-michaels/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [In every generation there are a few people who are authentically funny. The cosmetics change. You may not be able to articulate it, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/in-every-generation-there-are-a-few-people-who-are-authentically/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) [Browse all 1,334 Enjoyment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoyment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The enjoyments of this life are not equal to its evils.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pliny the Elder" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equal-to-its-evils/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enjoyment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equal-to-its-evils/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/pliny-the-elder-2838_enjoyment_the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equa_2207166.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/pliny-the-elder-2838_enjoyment_the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equa_2207166.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7c/pliny-the-elder-2838_enjoyment_the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equa_2207166.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The enjoyments of this life are not equal to its evils.” — Pliny the Elder", "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": "Pliny the Elder", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The enjoyments of this life are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equal-to-its-evils/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/the-enjoyments-of-this-life-are-not-equal-to-its-evils/#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 } } ] } ```