EpicurusThinkers

Abundance is constituted not by what we have but by what we enjoy.

Enough is never enough for the man to whom enough is too little.

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

Metaphor is the unpredictable moment during which each atom deviates from its course, creating the opportunity for a chance encounter with another atom. It was only through these 'clinamactic' collisions, Epicurus believed, that change, surprise, and variety entered the world.

Necessity is an evil thing, but there is no necessity to live beneath the yoke of necessity.

Pleasure is the first good . . . It is the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul.

Pleasure is the beginning and end of the blessed life.

Riches is not the end of worries, but a change in worries.

Security is as far as our struggle with death is concerned, akin to living in a city without wall.

Security is possible to some degree against most ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls.

Self-sufficiency is the greatest of all wealth.