“Socrates sat up on the bed, bent his leg and rubbed it with his hand,
and as he rubbed he said: "What a strange thing that which men call
pleasure seems to be, and how astonishing the relation it has with what
is thought to be its opposite, namely pain! A man cannot have both at the
same time. Yet if he pursues and catches the one, he is almost always
bound to catch the other also, like two creatures with one head. I think
c that if Aesop had noted this he would have composed a fable that a god
wished to reconcile their opposition but could not do so, so he joined their
two heads together, and therefore when a man has the one, the other
follows later. This seems to be happening to me. My bonds caused pain
in my leg, and now pleasure seems to be following.”
― Phaedo
and as he rubbed he said: "What a strange thing that which men call
pleasure seems to be, and how astonishing the relation it has with what
is thought to be its opposite, namely pain! A man cannot have both at the
same time. Yet if he pursues and catches the one, he is almost always
bound to catch the other also, like two creatures with one head. I think
c that if Aesop had noted this he would have composed a fable that a god
wished to reconcile their opposition but could not do so, so he joined their
two heads together, and therefore when a man has the one, the other
follows later. This seems to be happening to me. My bonds caused pain
in my leg, and now pleasure seems to be following.”
― Phaedo
David’s 2025 Year in Books
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