Epicurus Quotes

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

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 things you really need are few and easy to come by; but the things you can imagine you need are infinite, and you will never be satisfied.

Both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom: the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is nothing terrible in life for the man who realizes there is nothing terrible in death.

Most men are in a coma when they are at rest and mad when they act.

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

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.