Epicurus Quotes

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.

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

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

Never say that I have taken it, only that I have given it back.

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

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.

The wise man who has become accustomed to necessities knows better how to share with others than how to take from them, so great a treasure of self-sufficiency has he found.

If you wish to make Pythocles rich, do not add to his store of money, but subtract from his desires.

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

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

The man who says that all events are necessitated has no ground for critizing the man who says that not all events are necessitated. For according to him this is itself a necessitated event.

The noble man is chiefly concerned with wisdom and friendship; of these, the former is a mortal good, the latter and immortal one.

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

27. Of all the means which are procured by wisdom to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is the acquisition of firends.

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

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.

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

So death, the most terrifying of ills, is nothing to us, since so long as we exist, death is not with us; but when death comes, then we do not exist. It does not then concern either the living or the dead, since for the former it is not, and the latter are no more.

[A] right understanding that death is nothing
to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not because it adds to it
an infinite span of time, but because it takes away the craving for
immortality. For there is nothing terrible in life for the man who has
truly comprehended that there is nothing terrible in not living.

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?