“Do not counsel what is most pleasant, but what is best.”
Solón (-638–-558 BC) Athenian legislator
Demetrius of Phalerum, "Apophthegms of the Seven Sages," in Early Greek Philosophy, vol. 2 (Loeb Classical Library, volume 525), p. 141
“It was not pleasant to admit what one is willing to do to go on living.”
— John Varley, book The Ophiuchi Hotline
Source: The Ophiuchi Hotline (1977), Chapter 14 (p. 141)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Do you have more details about the quote "It was not pleasant to admit what one is willing to do to go on living." by John Varley?
John Varley23
American science fiction author 1947Related quotes
Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886) American politician, 21st President of the United States (in office from 1881 to 1885)
As quoted in Recollections of Thirteen Presidents, John S. Wise (1906).
“Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills.”
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher
Der Mensch kann tun was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will. <br class="br">Einstein paraphrasing Schopenhauer. Reportedly from On The Freedom Of The Will (1839), as translated in The Philosophy of American History: The Historical Field Theory (1945) by Morris Zucker, p. 531 <br class="br">Variant translations: <br class="br">Man can do what he wants but he cannot want what he wants. <br class="br">As quoted in The Motivated Brain: A Neurophysiological Analysis of Human Behavior (1991) by Pavel Vasilʹevich Simonov, p. 198 <br class="br">We can do what we wish, but we can only wish what we must. <br class="br">As quoted by Einstein in "What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck" The Saturday Evening Post (26 October 1929) p. 17. A scan of the article is available online here http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/wp-content/uploads/satevepost/what_life_means_to_einstein.pdf (see p. 114). <br class="br">Attributed <br class="br">Source: Essays and Aphorisms
“There is always room for improvement in our lives. Are we willing to try?! Are we going to try?!”
Mohammed Alkobaisi (1970) Iraqi Islamic scholar
Understanding Islam, "Morals and Ethics" http://vod.dmi.ae/media/96716/Ep_03_Morals_and_Ethics Dubai Media
Jean Paul Sartre book Saint Genet
Saint Genet, Actor and Martyr (1952)
Source: Book 2, "The Melodious Child Dead in Me"
“Difficult and easy-going, pleasant and churlish, you are at the same time: I can neither live with you nor without you.”
Difficilis facilis iucundus acerbus es idem:
Nec possum tecum vivere nec sine te.
Martial book Epigrammata
Difficilis facilis iucundus acerbus es idem:
Nec possum tecum vivere nec sine te.
XII, 46
Variant translation: Difficult or easy, pleasant or bitter, you are the same you: I cannot live with you—or without you.
Compare: "Thus I can neither live with you nor without you", Ovid, Amores, Book III, xib, 39
Epigrams (c. 80 – 104 AD)
“Living is a constant process of deciding what we are going to do.”
José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist
“No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky.”
E. B. White (1899–1985) American writer
Here is New York (1949)