Epicurus (c.342–270 BCE) was a Ancient Greek philosopher of the Hellenistic age. He is the founder of the Epicurean school of philosophy, which sought happiness through simple living. His importance to science lies in his adapting and promulgating Democritean atomism.
Born on the Greek island of Samos, Epicurus began teaching philosophy at the age of 32. He settled in Athens in 306 BCE and tutored students in his ‘Garden’ near the city of Athens. The English word “epicure,” denoting a person who loves good food and drink, is taken from Epicurus and the Epicureans.
Epicurus was mostly known as being the creator of ‘Epicureanism.’ a popular belief in Hellenistic Philosophy over 600 years. While Epicurus was a hedonist given that he believed that the goal of all activity was pleasure, he had an austere definition of it—for Epicurus, the pleasure was merely the absence of discomfort, pain, or fear. Epicurus advocated forgoing many short-term pleasures and instead focusing on the overall pleasure and pain distribution over a lifetime. More pleasurable than a life devoted to short-term pleasure was one in which one moderated one’s desires without pursuing wealth or glory.
Epicurus’s literary output was substantial—Diogenes Laërtius, his principal biographer, inventories some 40 works. One of them, De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things,) comprises 37 books. All that has survived is what seems to be an abridged version of Epicurus’s philosophy in the form of three letters, a few fragments, and a compilation of his more essential aphorisms entitled Major Opinions.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Epicurus
Pleasure is the beginning and the end of living happily.
—Epicurus
Topics: Love
There is no such thing as justice in the abstract; it is merely a compact between men.
—Epicurus
Topics: Justice
Justice has no independent existence: it results from mutual contracts, and we find it in force wherever there is a mutual agreement to guard against doing injury or sustaining it.
—Epicurus
The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it.—Skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
—Epicurus
Topics: Talent, Endurance, Glory, Difficulty, Problems, Opposition
Let nothing be done in your life, which will cause you fear if it becomes known to your neighbor.
—Epicurus
Topics: Virtue, Fear, Life, Goodness, Kindness, Excellence, Action
The art of living well and the art of dying well are one.
—Epicurus
Topics: Dying, Death
The mind that is much elevated and insolent with prosperity, and cast down by adversity, is generally abject and base.
—Epicurus
Topics: Prosperity
The wise man thinks of fame just enough to avoid being despised.
—Epicurus
Topics: Fame
The happiest men are those who have reached the point where they have nothing to fear from those who surround them.
—Epicurus
A strict belief in fate is the worst kind of slavery; on the other hand there is comfort in the thought that God will be moved by our prayers.
—Epicurus
Topics: Destiny, Fate
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.
—Epicurus
Topics: Popularity
Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth is unhappy, though he is master of the world.
—Epicurus
Topics: Blessings, Happiness, Unhappiness, Appreciation, Gratitude
I never desired to please the rabble. What pleased them, I did not learn; and what I knew was far removed from their understanding.
—Epicurus
Topics: Desire, Learning
Vast power and great wealth may, up to a certain point, grant us security as far as individual men are concerned, but the security of men as a whole depends on the tranquility of their souls and their freedom from ambition.
—Epicurus
It is impossible to live pleasurably without living prudently, and honorably, and justly; or to live prudently, and honorably, and justly, without living pleasurably.
—Epicurus
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
—Epicurus
Man was not intended by nature to live in communities and be civilized.
—Epicurus
Topics: Civilization
All other love is extinguished by self-love; beneficence, humanity, justice, and philosophy sink under it.
—Epicurus
Topics: Self-love
Let no one delay the study of philosophy when young nor weary of it when old.
—Epicurus
Of all the things that wisdom provides for the happiness of a whole life, the most important by far is acquiring friends.
—Epicurus
Injustice is not intrinsically bad: people regard it as evil only because it is accompanied by the fear that they will not escape the officials who are appointed to punish evil actions.
—Epicurus
The fool, with all his other faults, has this also, he is always getting ready to live.
—Epicurus
Topics: Action
Any device whatever by which one frees himself from fear is a natural good.
—Epicurus
Topics: Fear, Anxiety
It is vain to ask of the gods what man is capable of supplying for himself.
—Epicurus
Topics: Prayer, Self-reliance
It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.
—Epicurus
Topics: Friends and Friendship, Confidence, Friendship
The time when most of you should withdraw into yourself is when you are forced to be in a crowd.
—Epicurus
He who doesn’t find a little enough will find nothing enough.
—Epicurus
Topics: Wealth
If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.
—Epicurus
Topics: Happiness
All sensations are true; pleasure is our natural goal.
—Epicurus
Topics: Pleasure
In a philosophical dispute, he gains most who is defeated, since he learns most.
—Epicurus
Topics: Learning
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