Quotes by Epicurus

About Epicurus:

Epicurus is known about Epicurean philosophy derives from later followers and commentators.
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Misfortune seldom intrudes upon the wise man; his greatest and highest interests are directed by reason throughout the course of life.

Epicurus

Riches do not exhilarate us so much with their possession as they torment us with their loss.

Epicurus

Not what we have But what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.

Epicurus

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

Epicurus

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

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

Epicurus

I would rather be first in a little Iberian village than second in Rome.

Epicurus

The misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.

Epicurus

Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.

Epicurus

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

Justice... is a kind of compact not to harm or be harmed.

Epicurus

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?

Epicurus

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 Gre...

Epicurus

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

Epicurus

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 latt...

Epicurus

[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 wh...

Epicurus

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.

Epicurus

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

Epicurus

It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.

Epicurus

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

Epicurus

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

Epicurus

Author Bio

  • NameEpicurus
  • Descriptionancient Greek philosopher
  • Born340 BCE
  • Died270 BCE
  • CountryClassical Athens
  • ProfessionPhilosopher