Q0229

“Pleasant it is, when winds trouble the great sea, to gaze from…” — Lucretius (De Rerum Natura II.1–2)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: De Rerum Natura II.1–2. Theme: wisdom.

English

Pleasant it is, when winds trouble the great sea, to gaze from shore upon another's great tribulation.
Thinker Lucretius
School Epicureanism
Source De Rerum Natura II.1–2
Theme Wisdom
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to De Rerum Natura II.1–2 and files it under Epicureanism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Lucretius

Titus Lucretius Carus (c. 99–c.

Interpretation

Lucretius is describing a real pleasure while questioning it. His claim in the passage is not that watching another's distress is cruel but that the relief comes from knowing oneself safe, and that this is a poor foundation for tranquillity. He goes on to argue that the truly secure position is not a shore but the understanding that removes the fear. The image therefore serves a therapeutic argument rather than a moral one.

Why it matters

It identifies a specific comfort people rarely examine: feeling better because it happened to someone else. He asks whether that is worth building on.

Concepts in this quote

Wisdom
Wisdom is practical insight under uncertainty: knowing what matters, what one does not know, and how to act without false certainty.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Lucretius. (n.d.). Pleasant it is, when winds trouble the great sea, to gaze from shore upon another's great tribulation. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0229

MLA: Lucretius. “Pleasant it is, when winds trouble the great….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0229.

Chicago: Lucretius. “Pleasant it is, when winds trouble the great….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0229.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “Pleasant it is, when winds trouble the great…”?

The passage is attributed to Lucretius, De Rerum Natura II.1–2. The archive attributes this English wording to De Rerum Natura II.1–2 and files it under Epicureanism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Lucretius mean by wisdom?

Unlike mere information, wisdom concerns judgment. Ancient schools linked it to virtue, moderation, and the right relation to desire. This passage enters that discussion through wisdom.

Same thinker

More from Lucretius

  1. Nothing can be created from nothing by divine agency.
  2. Therefore death is nothing to us, and does not concern us at all.
  3. When human life lay foully for all to see, crushed to the earth under heavy religion…
  4. From the very fountain of delights rises something bitter that chokes among the flowers themselves.

All quotations by Lucretius

Same theme

More on wisdom

  1. It is through wonder that people both now begin and first began to philosophize.
  2. A person's character is their destiny.
  3. What is opposed brings together; from what differs comes the finest harmony.
  4. Death is nothing to us: for what has been dissolved has no sensation, and what has no sensation is nothing to us.
  5. Pleasure is the beginning and end of the happy life — not the pleasures of profligates, but freedom from pain in the body and from disturbance in the soul.

Browse the wisdom theme