Any pleasure that does no harm to other people is to be valued.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 2, ch. 10 “Is Happiness Still Possible?” (1930)
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Quotations about:
harmlessness
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There is nothing to be done with that type of citizen of whom all that can be said is that he is harmless. Virtue which is dependent upon a sluggish circulation is not impressive. There is little place in active life for the timid good man.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
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To enjoy and to give joy, without harming either oneself or anyone else, that, I think, is all of morality.
[Jouis et fair jouir, sans faire mal ni à toi ni à personne, voilà, je crois, toute la morale.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 5, ¶ 319 (1795) [tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]
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(Source (French)). Alternate translations:To enjoy yourself and make others enjoy themselves, without harming yourself or any other; that, to my mind, is the whole of ethics.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]Enjoy and give pleasure, without doing harm to yourself or to anyone else -- that, I think, is the whole of morality.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]Enjoy and make others enjoy; without doing harm to yourself or anyone else: that, I think, sums up the whole of morality.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]Give and take pleasure, without doing harm to yourself or anyone else -- that, I think, sums up morality.
[tr. Dusinberre (1992), Frag. 319]Take your pleasure, give pleasure to others without doing harm to yourself or to anyone else: that sums up the whole of morality.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 196]
