Epicurus Quotations

Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.

It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

Misfortune seldom intrudes upon the wise man; his greatest and highest interests are directed by reason throughout the course of life.

We do not so much need the help of our friends as the confidence of their help in need.

Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.

Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.

The misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.

If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.

It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls.

It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.

The art of living well and the art of dying well are one.

It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.

A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs.

If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another.

I never desired to please the rabble. What pleased them, I did not learn; and what I knew was far removed from their understanding.

There is no such thing as justice in the abstract; it is merely a compact between men.

It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life.

Not what we have But what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.

I have never wished to cater to the crowd; for what I know they do not approve, and what they approve I do not know.

Justice... is a kind of compact not to harm or be harmed.

The time when most of you should withdraw into yourself is when you are forced to be in a crowd.

Of all the things which wisdom acquires to produce the blessedness of the complete life far the greatest is the possession of Friendship.

Of all the things which wisdom provides to make life entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship

Of all things which wisdom provides to make life entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.

It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet,than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.

It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.

Those who tell the young man to live well and the old man to die well is nothing but a fool, not only for what life has in happiness to both young and old, but also for one must be careful in live honestly as well as die honestly.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?Then he is not omnipotent.Is he able, but not willing?Then he is malevolent.Is he both able and willing?Then whence cometh evil?Is he neither able nor willing?Then why call him God?

The greater difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.

The greater difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

Men, believing in myths, will always fear something terrible, everlasting punishment as certain or probable . . . Men base all these fears not on mature opinions, but on irrational fancies, that they are more disturbed by fear of the unknown than by facing facts. Peace of mind lies in being delivered from all these fears.

Happiness is man's greatest aim in life. Tranquility and rationality are the cornerstones of happiness.

Live your life without attracting attention.

He who understands the limits of life knows that it is easy to obtain that which removes the pain of want and makes the whole of life complete and perfect. Thus he has no longer any need of things which involve struggle.

Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.

Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?

The noble soul occupies itself with wisdom and friendship.

We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.

Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempest.

The summit of pleasure is the elimination of all that gives pain.

When we exist, death is not yet present, and when death is present, then we do not exist.

What will happen to me if that which this desire seeks is achieved, and what if it is not?

Death is nothing to us: for that which is dissolved is without sensation; and that which lacks sensation is nothing to us.

All sensations are true; pleasure is our natural goal.

God is all-powerful. God is perfectly good. Evil exists. If God exists, there would be no evil. Therefore God does not exist.

You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.

If death causes you no pain when you're dead, it is foolish to allow the fear of it to cause you pain now.

The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it.

Pleasure is the first good. It is the beginning of every choice and every aversion. It is the absence of pain in the body and of troubles in the soul.

In a philosophical dispute, he gains most who is defeated, since he learns most.

The pleasant life is not produced by continual drinking and dancing, nor sexual intercourse, nor rare dishes of sea food and other delicacies of a luxurious table. On the contrary, it is produced by sober reasoning which examines the motives for every choice and avoidance, driving away beliefs which are the source of mental disturbances.

Why should I fear death? If I am, then death is not. If Death is, then I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not? Long time men lay oppressed with slavish fear. Religious tyranny did domineer. At length the mighty one of Greece Began to assent the liberty of man.

The man least dependent upon the morrow goes to meet the morrow most cheerfully.

An irreligious man is not one who denies the gods of the majority, but one who applies to the gods the opinions of the majority. For what most men say about the gods are not ideas derived from sensation, but false opinions, according to which the greatest evils come to the wicked, and the greatest blessings come to the good from the gods.

All friendship is desirable in itself, though it starts from the need of help

Luxurious food and drinks, in no way protect you from harm. Wealth beyond what is natural, is no more use than an overflowing container. Real value is not generated by theaters, and baths, perfumes or ointments, but by philosophy.

Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance.

A strict belief in fate is the worst of slavery, imposing upon our necks an everlasting lord and tyrant, whom we are to stand in awe of night and day.

We must, therefore, pursue the things that make for happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything; but when it is absent, we do everything to possess it.

Riches do not exhilarate us so much with their possession as they torment us with their loss.

The acquisition of riches has been for many men, not an end, but a change, of troubles.

Most beautiful is the sight of those near and dear to us when our original kinship makes us of one mind.

We must consider both the ultimate end and all clear sensory evidence, to which we refer our opinions; for otherwise everything will be full of uncertainty and confusion.

I was not; I have been; I am not; I do not mind.

Pleasure is the beginning and the end of living happily. Epicurus taught: Pleasure, defined as freedom from pain, is the highest good.

Don't fear god, Don't worry about death; What is good is easy to get, and What is terrible is easy to endure

Pleasure is the beginning and the end of living happily.

Launch your boat, blessed youth, and flee at full speed from every form of culture.

A man who causes fear cannot be free from fear.

We cannot live pleasantly without living wisely and nobly and righteously.

Man was not intended by nature to live in communities and be civilized.

Moreover, the universe as a whole is infinite, for whatever is limited has an outermost edge to limit it, and such an edge is defined by something beyond. Since the universe has no edge, it has no limit; and since it lacks a limit, it is infinite and unbounded. Moreover, the universe is infinite both in the number of its atoms and in the extent of its void.

We have been born once and there can be no second birth. Fir all eternity we shall no longer be. But you, although you are not master of tomorrow, are postponing your happiness...

He who is not satisfied with a little, is satisfied with nothing .

Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.

The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity.

Let no one delay the study of philosophy while young nor weary of it when old.

Empty is the argument of the philosopher which does not relieve any human suffering.

He who has peace of mind disturbs neither himself nor another.

Whatsoever causes no annoyance when it is present, causes only a groundless pain in the expectation. Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not. It is nothing, then, either to the living or to the dead, for with the living it is not and the dead exist no longer.

He who says either that the time for philosophy has not yet come or that it has passed is like someone who says that the time for happiness has not yet come or that it has passed.

A blessed and indestructible being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; so he is free from anger and partiality, for all such things imply weakness.

Some men spend their whole life furnishing for themselves the things proper to life without realizing that at our birth each of us was poured a mortal brew to drink.

To eat and drink without a friend is to devour like the lion and the wolf.

I would rather be first in a little Iberian village than second in Rome.

Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.

Freedom is the greatest fruit of self sufficiency.

It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and honorably and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and honorably and justly without living pleasantly. Whenever any one of these is lacking, when, for instance, the man is not able to live wisely, though he lives honorably and justly, it is impossible for him to live a pleasant life.

Pleasure is our first and kindred good. It is the starting point of every choice and of every aversion, and to it we always come back, inasmuch as we make feeling the rule by which to judge of every good thing.

We begin every act of choice and avoidance from pleasure, and it is to pleasure that we return using our experience of pleasure as the criterion of every good thing.

The knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation.

Natural wealth is limited and easily obtained; the wealth defined by vain fancies is always beyond reach.

What men fear is not that death is annihilation but that it is not.

Justice has no independent existence; it results from mutual contracts, and establishes itself wherever there is a mutual engagement to guard against doing or sustaining mutual injury.

I was not, I was, I am not, I care not. (Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo)

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.

As if they were our own handiwork we place a high value on our characters.

Where I am death is not, where death is I am not.