--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But it's hard for a man to give up all…" description: "\"But it's hard for a man to give up all his pleasures, even when they don't pleasure him no more.\" — Stephen King" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/stephen-king-13_giving_but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-h_266813.jpg" --- # But it's hard for a man to give up all his pleasures, even… ![“But it's hard for a man to give up all his pleasures, even when they don't pleasure him no more.” quote by Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/stephen-king-13_giving_but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-h_266813.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/stephen-king-13_giving_but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-h_266813.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/stephen-king-13_giving_but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-h_266813.jpg) > “But it's hard for a man to give up all his pleasures, even when they don't pleasure him no more.” [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People struggle to abandon habits even when they no longer bring joy. **In simple terms:** Hard to give up pleasures that feel empty. Key Takeaway Recognize and release unfulfilling habits. Themes addiction self-awareness contentment Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - addiction recovery - life transitions Key Concepts habit loops psychological resistance Questions to Reflect On - Which "pleasures" no longer serve you? - How can you replace them with healthier alternatives? A Different Perspective Pleasures may be tied to identity, making change painful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-up/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Pleasures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasures/) ## Related quotes > [I have a lot of pleasures but I don't feel guilty about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/i-have-a-lot-of-pleasures-but-i-don-t-feel-guilty-about-them/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [“I am a man without many pleasures in life, a man whose few pleasures are small, but a man whose small pleasures are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-filipacchi/i-am-a-man-without-many-pleasures-in-life-a-man-whose-few-pleasures/) [Amanda Filipacchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-filipacchi/) > [A man would have no pleasures in discovering all the beauties of the universe, even in heaven itself, unless he had a partner to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/a-man-would-have-no-pleasures-in-discovering-all-the-beauties-of-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/poor-is-the-man-whose-pleasures-depend-on-the-permission-of-another/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [Let a man neither give himself over to pleasures ... nor yet let him give himself over to self-mortification ... To the exclusion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/let-a-man-neither-give-himself-over-to-pleasures-nor-yet-let-him-give/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/happy-happy-christmas-that-can-win-us-back-to-the-delusions-of-our/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The sovereign good of man is a mind that subjects all things to itself and is itself subject to nothing; such a man's pleasures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-sovereign-good-of-man-is-a-mind-that-subjects-all-things-to/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [“it's so easy to be a poet and so hard to be a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/it-s-so-easy-to-be-a-poet-and-so-hard-to-be-a-man/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I'm a pretty tough guy, you know. I'm a pretty hard man. I've got a lot of compassion, but I don't waste time with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hopkins/i-m-a-pretty-tough-guy-you-know-i-m-a-pretty-hard-man-i-ve-got-a-lot/) [Anthony Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hopkins/) > [It's hard for any man to take something thrown at his face and not to retaliate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jackson/it-s-hard-for-any-man-to-take-something-thrown-at-his-face-and-not-to/) [Stephen Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jackson/) > [“N it's fuckin well beyond violence, it's beyond even sexual; it's a kind ay love, a fuckin bizarre, vain-glorious self-adoration, way past the fuckin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/n-it-s-fuckin-well-beyond-violence-it-s-beyond-even-sexual-it-s-a/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [But contrary to what some people seem to think, I was never a bully. I was just a hard man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-daltrey/but-contrary-to-what-some-people-seem-to-think-i-was-never-a-bully-i/) [Roger Daltrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-daltrey/) > [Ball so hard man I gotta go pro once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/ball-so-hard-man-i-gotta-go-pro-once/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [Where I come from, being a hard man is being able to take a good beating and then get back up again and carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rourke/where-i-come-from-being-a-hard-man-is-being-able-to-take-a-good/) [Mickey Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rourke/) > [He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/he-is-a-hard-man-who-is-only-just-and-a-sad-one-who-is-only-wise/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by Stephen King > [Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/shall-there-be-truth-between-us-as-two-men-not-as-friends-but-as/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The worst advice? 'Don't listen to the critics.' I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they're telling you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-worst-advice-don-t-listen-to-the-critics-i-think-that-you-really/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“October 3, 2017 The clown, Hagarty said, looked like a cross between Ronald McDonald and that old TV clown, Bozo—or so he thought at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/october-3-2017-the-clown-hagarty-said-looked-like-a-cross-between/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Eddie saw great things and near misses. Albert Einstein as a child, not quite struck by a run-away milk-wagon as he crossed a street.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/eddie-saw-great-things-and-near-misses-albert-einstein-as-a-child-not/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [It hurt, of course, but more often than not the best things do, I've found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/it-hurt-of-course-but-more-often-than-not-the-best-things-do-i-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The idea that creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time... Creative people probably do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-idea-that-creative-endeavor-and-mind-altering-substances-are/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The sun had burned through and the day had gone from dull to dazzling, yet in the west blask-satin thunderheads continued to stack up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-sun-had-burned-through-and-the-day-had-gone-from-dull-to-dazzling/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“God, you had enough time to have been through it three times. You've been through my stuff. I bet you over and let one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/god-you-had-enough-time-to-have-been-through-it-three-times-you-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Flakes of snow swirled and danced across the porch. The Overlook faced it as it had for nearly three-quarters of a century, its darkened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/flakes-of-snow-swirled-and-danced-across-the-porch-the-overlook-faced/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“In that instant it all seemed to come clear to him- it came in a grisly flash of light, and he realized that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-that-instant-it-all-seemed-to-come-clear-to-him-it-came-in-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Who gets to be best-liked in any community? Who is the most trusted? Why, the man who does the dirty job, of course, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/who-gets-to-be-best-liked-in-any-community-who-is-the-most-trusted/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“¿Lo ves, tonto? Volvió a regañarse. Tú lo inventaste todo, gato asustado. No fue más que tu imaginación, gato asustado, gato asustado... No te…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/lo-ves-tonto-volvi-a-rega-arse-t-lo-inventaste-todo-gato-asustado-no/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Death . . . but not for you. That was what Walter, clever as Satan even at the end, had said. A lawyer’s answer . . . so close to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/death-but-not-for-you-that-was-what-walter-clever-as-satan-even-at/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-ghost-story-movie-that-scared-me-the-most-was-the-changeling-with/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Climb aboard, Jonesy. I'm going to send you up where the air is rare and the view is much more than fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/climb-aboard-jonesy-i-m-going-to-send-you-up-where-the-air-is-rare/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) [Explore all 3,589 Stephen King quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## More Giving quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [Some people give you that motivation to work harder simply to get the hell away from wherever they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/some-people-give-you-that-motivation-to-work-harder-simply-to-get-the/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [You've touched people and known it. You've touched people and never may know it. Either way, you have something to give. It is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/you-ve-touched-people-and-known-it-you-ve-touched-people-and-never/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/) Riffat Hassan > [Grandma, please. It’s okay. Dad’s doing a great job. I give him kudos for at least being calm and rational, and not losing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/grandma-please-it-s-okay-dad-s-doing-a-great-job-i-give-him-kudos-for/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Most paper money initially existed as a substitute for gold. That's what gave it value. But right now what gives a currency value is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/most-paper-money-initially-existed-as-a-substitute-for-gold-that-s/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I don't think my relationship with the idea of womanhood is that attached to giving birth... like, I'm fully aware that I'll never give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-harrison/i-don-t-think-my-relationship-with-the-idea-of-womanhood-is-that/) [Patti Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-harrison/) [Browse all 39,303 Giving quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But it's hard for a man to give up all his pleasures, even when they don't pleasure him no more.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen King" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-his-pleasures-even-when-they/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Giving" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-his-pleasures-even-when-they/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/stephen-king-13_giving_but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-h_266813.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/stephen-king-13_giving_but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-h_266813.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/stephen-king-13_giving_but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-h_266813.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But it's hard for a man to give up all his pleasures, even when they don't pleasure him no more.” — Stephen King", "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": "Stephen King", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But it's hard for a man...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-his-pleasures-even-when-they/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/but-it-s-hard-for-a-man-to-give-up-all-his-pleasures-even-when-they/#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 } } ] } ```