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Epicurus Quotes
341 BC–270 BC Greece
Epicurus (341 BC – 270 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and Sage whose ideas gave rise to systems of thought known as Epicureanism. Influenced by Democritus, Aristippus, Pyrrho, and possibly the Cynics, he turned against the Platonism of his day.
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37 quotes
Of all the means which wisdom acquires to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is friendship. (28)
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.
Necessity is an evil; but there is no necessity for continuing to live subject to necessity.
Philosophy instructs us to pay homage to the gods, not through hope or fear, but from veneration of Their superior nature.
He who is not satisfied with a little, is satisfied with nothing.
Self-sufficiency is the greatest of all wealth.
A beneficent person is like a fountain watering the earth and spreading fertility: it is therefore more delightful and more honourable to give than receive.
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.
If you hastily affirm as true all that awaits confirmation as well as that which does not, you will not escape error.
Continence is a branch of temperance, which prevents the diseases, infamy, remorse, and punishment, to which those are exposed, who indulge themselves in unlawful amours.
Earthquakes may be brought about because wind is caught up in the earth, so the earth is dislocated in small masses and is continually shaken, and that causes it to sway.
The greatest reward of righteousness is peace of mind.
Justice respects man as living in society, and is the common bond without which no society can subsist.
Sobriety, as opposed to inebriety and gluttony, is of admirable use in teaching men that nature is satisfied with a little, and enabling them to content themselves with simple and frugal fare.
There are infinite worlds both like and unlike this world of ours... we must believe that in all worlds there are living creatures and plants and other things we see in this world.
Chance seldom interferes with the wise man; his greatest and highest interests have been, are, and will be, directed by reason throughout his whole life. (16).
He who understands the limits of life knows how easy it is to procure enough to remove the pain of want and make the whole life complete and perfect. Hence he has no longer any need of things which are not to be won save by labor and conflict.
Nearly allied to justice are the virtues of beneficence, compassion, gratitude, piety, and friendship.
No pleasure is in itself evil, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail annoyances many times greater than the pleasures themselves. (8)
Moderation, in the pursuit of honors or riches, is the only security against disappointment and vexation. A wise man, therefore, will prefer the simplicity of rustic life to the magnificence of courts.
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