14 definitions
Change (n.) goes on in us almost entirely unnoticed: we do not feel ourselves growing; only great changes bring pleasure or pain.
The Cosmos (n.) is a spectacle of sun, moon, stars and turning heaven so wonderful that only reason arranging it all can do it justice.
Excess (n.) breeds pleasures so violent they drive fools and debauchees near madness and shrieks of frenzy; the moderate obey "nothing too much."
Forgetting (n.) knowledge brings no pain by nature; it hurts only when, needing it, we reflect on the loss.
Knowledge (n.) confined to the divine circle would leave us ridiculous; we need the inexact science of false yardsticks and circles too, if we ever want to find our way home.
Music (n.) is full of lucky guesses and imitation and lacks purity, yet it must go into the mix if our life is to be any sort of life at all.
Pain (n.) can be twofold: the body's present emptiness and the soul's desire straining toward a filling it cannot reach.
Pleasure (n.) itself is never false, Protarchus objects; when we are deceived it is the judgment we call false, never the delight.
Pleasure (n.) is the greatest impostor of all — in matters of love, even perjury is said to be pardoned by the gods.
Pleasure (n.) is like a child without the least bit of reason; reason is either the same as truth or the thing most like it.
Pleasure (n.) and excessive joy are the most unmeasured things there are; nothing is more measured than reason and knowledge.
Pleasure (n.) at its most intense looks ridiculous or obscene to watchers; we hide it out of shame and keep it for the night, as if daylight must not see it.
Reason (n.) has never been seen as ugly by anyone, awake or dreaming.
Self-knowledge (n.) is the second-best wisdom: if knowing everything is too much, at least do not be mistaken about yourself.