Quotes & anectdotes from
the wise,
the foolish,
the courageous &
the drunk

Epicurus Philosopher

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: Greece
  • Born: 341 BCE
  • Died: 270 BCE

Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher as well as the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. Only a few fragments and letters of Epicurus's 300 written works remain. Much of what is known about Epicurean philosophy derives from later followers and commentators.

For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by ataraxia—peace and freedom from fear—and aponia—the absence of pain—and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that pleasure and pain are the measures of what is good and evil; death is the end of both body and soul and should therefore not be feared; the gods neither reward nor punish humans; the universe is infinite and eternal; and events in the world are ultimately based on the motions and interactions of atoms moving in empty space.

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

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 confidence of their help.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.