Pursuing pleasure

Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it. Soren Kierkegaard

There are so many pleasures in life -- I think God gives us a glimpse of heaven when we experience earthly pleasures.  Some pleasures I've enjoyed recently (also enjoyed by the Great Thinkers, as evidenced by the accompanying quote):

Lying in bed at the beginning of the day after the alarm goes off, not sleeping, but not awake either.

Each morning when I awake, I experience again a supreme pleasure - that of being Salvador Dali.  Salvador Dali 

Watching the goldfinches and woodpeckers flock to our bird feeder in the snowy backyard.

There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more. George Byron

My cockatiel's head burrowing into my cupped hand, the bird closing her eyes with pleasure, and then giving me little bird kisses.

Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me.  Zora Neale Hurston

Watching Maddy, the nine-year-old girl I mentor, pillow her head on my jacket and go to sleep during the Justin Bieber movie Sunday.

I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us.  Charles Dickens.

Admiring my neat and organized laundry room after my husband installed a new shelf last weekend.

 Exactness and neatness in moderation is a virtue, but carried to extremes narrows the mind.  Francois FeNelon

Having the freedom to lie on the sofa and read during the day.

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.  Jane Austen

The lively discussion, fellowship, and real affection from the wonderful women in my book group.

Close friends contribute to our personal growth. They also contribute to our personal pleasure, making the music sound sweeter, the wine taste richer, the laughter ring louder because they are there.  Judith Viorst

A piping hot cup of coffee with cream, while I watch the Today Show with my husband.

The greatest pleasure of life is love. Euripides