No, you have not mistakenly picked up a checkout counter periodical. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto, a great 18 th century Jewish philosopher, teaches that Hashem created human beings for the purpose of finding pleasure in Him. This pleasure is incomparable and the path to it is difficult. Instead, many people turn their pursuit to achievements in the material world and its pleasures. However, according to the Maharal of Prague, one of the seminal figures in Jewish thought of the last five centuries, the above Mishnah is issuing us a warning.
Material pleasures have severe limitations.
One limitation of material pleasures is that in excess, they can be harmful. Food, for example, is good for us and it is also pleasurable. However, at a certain point, food is no longer beneficial. In excess, food can even become fatal, all the while being pleasurable. Material pleasures have another limitation.