To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. Woody Allen
About This Quote

In this quote, Plato is criticizing the idea that happiness is the best thing in life. He believes that to be happy it’s better to suffer in a loving relationship or relationship in general. He exposes the problem that love brings in a relationship. The suffering in a relationship can drive you crazy and make you end up in a situation where you’re unhappy.

And when you’re unhappy, you seek something to bring you happiness again. But because he has such a high opinion of suffering, he concludes that love can never bring true happiness and one will always be unsatisfied with the current situation.

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