--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our greatest pleasure, surely, is in…" description: "\"Our greatest pleasure, surely, is in fragments, just as we derive the most pleasure from life if we regard it as a fragment, whereas the whole and the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/thomas-bernhard-3514_abhorrent_our-greatest-pleasure-surely-is-in-fragm_761516.jpg" --- # Our greatest pleasure, surely, is in fragments, just as we… ![“Our greatest pleasure, surely, is in fragments, just as we derive the most pleasure from life if we regard it as a fragment, whereas the whole and the complete and the perfect are basically abhorrent.” quote by Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/thomas-bernhard-3514_abhorrent_our-greatest-pleasure-surely-is-in-fragm_761516.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/thomas-bernhard-3514_abhorrent_our-greatest-pleasure-surely-is-in-fragm_761516.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8c/thomas-bernhard-3514_abhorrent_our-greatest-pleasure-surely-is-in-fragm_761516.jpg) > “Our greatest pleasure, surely, is in fragments, just as we derive the most pleasure from life if we regard it as a fragment, whereas the whole and the complete and the perfect are basically abhorrent.” [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pleasure comes from appreciating partial, imperfect experiences rather than seeking total perfection, which feels repulsive. **In simple terms:** Enjoy fragments, not the impossible whole. Key Takeaway Seek joy in small, imperfect moments. Themes appreciation imperfection joy Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - daily life - art appreciation - relationships - mindfulness Key Concepts existentialism aesthetic philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What small moments bring you joy? - How does chasing perfection hinder happiness? A Different Perspective Perfectionism can still dominate decisions, limiting satisfaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fragment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragment/) [Greatest pleasures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatest-pleasures/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) ## Related quotes > [All that you may achieve or discover you will regard as a fragment of a larger pattern of the truth which from the separate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-you-may-achieve-or-discover-you-will-regard-as-a-fragment-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some things remain fragments, just the lyrics and melodies or a line or two or a verse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chapman/some-things-remain-fragments-just-the-lyrics-and-melodies-or-a-line/) [Tracy Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chapman/) > [Life is a fragment, a moment between two eternities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/life-is-a-fragment-a-moment-between-two-eternities/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [“What fragment of truth will be mine?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia-hills/what-fragment-of-truth-will-be-mine/) Lia Hills > [North America can easily fragment quickly as did the Eastern Bloc in 1989.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/north-america-can-easily-fragment-quickly-as-did-the-eastern-bloc-in/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The beauty of a fragment is that it still supports the hope of brilliant completeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/the-beauty-of-a-fragment-is-that-it-still-supports-the-hope-of/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Jeffersonian democracy, faulty as it is, and only the fragment of it that we have, is a thing of such preciousness, a thing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/jeffersonian-democracy-faulty-as-it-is-and-only-the-fragment-of-it/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [No single thing abides; but all things flow. Fragment to fragment clings - the things thus grow Until we know them and name them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/no-single-thing-abides-but-all-things-flow-fragment-to-fragment/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [“A fragment for my friend-- If your soul left this earth I would follow and find you Silent, my starship suspended in night”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-st-john-mandel/a-fragment-for-my-friend-if-your-soul-left-this-earth-i-would-follow/) [Emily St. John Mandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-st-john-mandel/) > [“Even when he was gone, some fragment of his spirit lingered behind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-perkins/even-when-he-was-gone-some-fragment-of-his-spirit-lingered-behind/) [Stephanie Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-perkins/) > [“It's the fragment of your past that explains why you have lived your life the way you have done and made the mistakes that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosie-thomas/it-s-the-fragment-of-your-past-that-explains-why-you-have-lived-your/) [Rosie Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosie-thomas/) > [Whatever you can conceive or imagine is but a fragment of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakuun-yasutani/whatever-you-can-conceive-or-imagine-is-but-a-fragment-of-yourself/) Hakuun Yasutani > [Make-up is such a huge fragment of my career and image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakti-mohan/make-up-is-such-a-huge-fragment-of-my-career-and-image/) [Shakti Mohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakti-mohan/) > [A fragment is not a fraction but a whole piece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole-piece/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) > [“Adrian's fragment also refers to the question of responsibility: whether there's a chain of it, or whether we draw the concept more narrowly. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/adrian-s-fragment-also-refers-to-the-question-of-responsibility/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) ## More by Thomas Bernhard > [“He was the only world-famous piano virtuoso who abhorred his public and also actually withdrew definitively from this abhorred public.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/he-was-the-only-world-famous-piano-virtuoso-who-abhorred-his-public/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“A body needs at least three points of support, not in a straight line, to fix its position, so Roithamer had written.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/a-body-needs-at-least-three-points-of-support-not-in-a-straight-line/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“The essential elements of a person come to light only when we must regard him as lost to us, when everything he has done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/the-essential-elements-of-a-person-come-to-light-only-when-we-must/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [Lawyers make nothing but confusion...A lawyer is an instrument of the devil. 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I hate nature, because it is killing me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/i-know-nothing-about-nature-i-hate-nature-because-it-is-killing-me/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“The empty rooms always had a terribly depressing effect upon my father when he considered, he said, that the person who dwelt in them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/the-empty-rooms-always-had-a-terribly-depressing-effect-upon-my/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“Time destroys everything we do, whatever it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/time-destroys-everything-we-do-whatever-it-is/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“To wake up one day and be Steinway and Glen in One... 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