--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Forbidden pleasures alone are loved…" description: "\"Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful, they do not excite desire.\" — Quintilian" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/quintilian-7306_desire_forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immo_2936638.jpg" --- # Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when… ![“Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful, they do not excite desire.” quote by Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/quintilian-7306_desire_forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immo_2936638.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/quintilian-7306_desire_forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immo_2936638.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/quintilian-7306_desire_forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immo_2936638.jpg) > “Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful, they do not excite desire.” [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Excessive desire for forbidden things leads to overindulgence, while lawful pleasures are less compelling. **In simple terms:** Forbidden things tempt more than allowed ones. Key Takeaway Seek balance and moderation in desires. Themes ethics desire self‑control lawfulness Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - dietary habits - entertainment choices - consumer behavior Key Concepts Philosophy of pleasure Stoic moderation Questions to Reflect On - Why are some pleasures more alluring? - How can you moderate cravings? A Different Perspective Cultural norms shape what is deemed “forbidden.” ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Forbidden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forbidden/) [Forbidden Pleasures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forbidden-pleasures-1643169/) [Loved Immoderately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loved-immoderately-4356404/) [Pleasures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasures/) [Pleasures Loved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasures-loved-4356403/) ## Related quotes > [Sinful and forbidden pleasures are like poisoned bread; they may satisfy appetite for the moment, but there is death in them at the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tryon-edwards/sinful-and-forbidden-pleasures-are-like-poisoned-bread-they-may/) [Tryon Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tryon-edwards/) > [But for Muslims, everything that they don't have on earth is what they get in heaven. They can drink, they can have sex. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-walters/but-for-muslims-everything-that-they-don-t-have-on-earth-is-what-they/) [Barbara Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-walters/) > [I do not find fault with equality for drawing men into the pursuit of forbidden pleasures, but for absorbing them entirely in the search…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-do-not-find-fault-with-equality-for-drawing-men-into-the-pursuit-of/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [During the course of our life we now and then enjoy some pleasures so inviting, and have some encounters of so tender a nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/during-the-course-of-our-life-we-now-and-then-enjoy-some-pleasures-so/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Pleasures are like photographs: in the presence of the person we love, we take only negatives, which we develop later, at home, when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/pleasures-are-like-photographs-in-the-presence-of-the-person-we-love/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [As far as pleasures, you've got to have limits. You shouldn't have too much of good things, so you'll always have a desire for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/compay-segundo/as-far-as-pleasures-you-ve-got-to-have-limits-you-shouldn-t-have-too/) [Compay Segundo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/compay-segundo/) > [There is no satisfying the senses, not even with a shower of money. "The senses are of slight pleasure and really suffering." When a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/there-is-no-satisfying-the-senses-not-even-with-a-shower-of-money-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-only-way-to-get-rid-of-a-temptation-is-to-yield-to-it-resist-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [If it's not forbidden, then it's allowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/if-it-s-not-forbidden-then-it-s-allowed/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [Knowledge forbidden? Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord Envy them that? Can it be sin to know, Can it be death? And do they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/knowledge-forbidden-suspicious-reasonless-why-should-their-lord-envy/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [“a hot dog shop where ketchup was forbidden,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-wise/a-hot-dog-shop-where-ketchup-was-forbidden/) [A.R. Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-wise/) > [It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted; precisely because most things are permitted and only a few things forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/it-is-shorter-to-state-the-things-forbidden-than-the-things-permitted/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The Church is the house of God. It is forbidden for men to enter with bare arms or in shorts. It is forbidden for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/the-church-is-the-house-of-god-it-is-forbidden-for-men-to-enter-with/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) ## More by Quintilian > [“In writing are the roots, in writing are the foundations of eloquence; by writing resources are stored up, as it were, in a sacred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/in-writing-are-the-roots-in-writing-are-the-foundations-of-eloquence/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Virtue, though she gets her beginning from nature, yet receives her finishing touches from learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/virtue-though-she-gets-her-beginning-from-nature-yet-receives-her/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Vain hopes are like certain dreams of those who wake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/vain-hopes-are-like-certain-dreams-of-those-who-wake/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Though ambition may be a fault in itself, it is often the mother of virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/though-ambition-may-be-a-fault-in-itself-it-is-often-the-mother-of/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [It is easier to do many things than to do one thing continuously for a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/it-is-easier-to-do-many-things-than-to-do-one-thing-continuously-for/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/we-excuse-our-sloth-under-the-pretext-of-difficulty/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [One thing, however, I must premise, that without the assistance of natural capacity, rules and precepts are of no efficacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/one-thing-however-i-must-premise-that-without-the-assistance-of/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Medicine for the dead is too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/medicine-for-the-dead-is-too-late/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Our minds are like our stomaches; they are whetted by the change of their food, and variety supplies both with fresh appetite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/our-minds-are-like-our-stomaches-they-are-whetted-by-the-change-of/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [A laugh costs too much when bought at the expense of virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/a-laugh-costs-too-much-when-bought-at-the-expense-of-virtue/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [The soul languishing in obscurity contracts a kind of rust, or abandons itself to the chimera of presumption; for it is natural for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/the-soul-languishing-in-obscurity-contracts-a-kind-of-rust-or/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [He who speaks evil only differs from his who does evil in that he lacks opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/he-who-speaks-evil-only-differs-from-his-who-does-evil-in-that-he/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [That which offends the ear will not easily gain admission to the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/that-which-offends-the-ear-will-not-easily-gain-admission-to-the-mind/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [In almost everything, experience is more valuable than precept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/in-almost-everything-experience-is-more-valuable-than-precept/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Though ambition itself be a vice, yet it is often times the cause of virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/though-ambition-itself-be-a-vice-yet-it-is-often-times-the-cause-of/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) [Explore all 92 Quintilian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful, they do not excite desire.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Quintilian" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immoderately-when-lawful-they-do/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immoderately-when-lawful-they-do/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/quintilian-7306_desire_forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immo_2936638.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/quintilian-7306_desire_forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immo_2936638.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/877/quintilian-7306_desire_forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immo_2936638.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful, they do not excite desire.” — Quintilian", "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": "Quintilian", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immoderately-when-lawful-they-do/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/forbidden-pleasures-alone-are-loved-immoderately-when-lawful-they-do/#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 } } ] } ```