1001Philosophers

Epicurus vs Marcus Aurelius on Life

Epicurus's good life is the moderate, friendly life of the Garden, withdrawn from political ambition and freed from superstitious fear of the gods. Marcus's good life is the disciplined life of an emperor on campaign, embracing his station as his portion of nature's allotment. The contrast between Epicurean withdrawal and Stoic engagement is the great Hellenistic disagreement about how a wise person should be situated in the world.

About this topic

The question of what makes a life worth living runs through almost every philosophical tradition. Ancient philosophers identified the good life with virtue, contemplation, or the absence of disturbance; medieval thinkers tied it to the love of God and the order of creation; modern philosophers have located meaning in autonomy, projects, relationships, or self-creation. The quotes collected here range across all these strands, from Stoic counsels of resilience to existentialist treatments of meaning under conditions of uncertainty.

For a side-by-side overview of the two philosophers more broadly, see the full Epicurus vs Marcus Aurelius comparison. To browse philosophy more widely on this theme, see the Life quotes hub.

Representative quotes on life

Epicurus on life

  • “Chance seldom interferes with the wise man; his greatest and highest interests have been, are, and will be, directed by reason throughout his whole life . (16).”

    Sovereign Maxims

  • “Of all the means which wisdom acquires to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life , by far the most important is friendship . (28)”

    Sovereign Maxims

  • “Justice respects man as living in society, and is the common bond without which no society can subsist.”

    Ancient and Modern Celebrated Freethinkers(Half-Hours with the Freethinkers)

  • “Since it is every man's interest to be happy through the whole of life, it is the wisdom of every one to employ philosophy in the search of felicity without delay; and there cannot be a greater folly, than to be always beginning to live.”

    Ancient and Modern Celebrated Freethinkers(Half-Hours with the Freethinkers)

  • “Gentleness, as opposed to an irascible temper, greatly contributes to the tranquility and happiness of life, by preserving the mind from perturbation, and arming it against the assaults of calumny and malice.”

    Ancient and Modern Celebrated Freethinkers(Half-Hours with the Freethinkers)

All 10 Epicurus quotes on life →

Marcus Aurelius on life

  • “The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.”

    The universe is flux, life is opinion.

  • “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”

    Meditations, Book II | II, 11

  • “Consider thyself to be dead , and to have completed thy life up to the present time; and live according to nature the remainder which is allowed thee.”

    Meditations, Book VII | Variant: Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. VII, 56

  • “Turn thy thoughts now to the consideration of thy life, thy life as a child, as a youth, thy manhood, thy old age, for in these also every change was a death. Is this anything to fear?”

    Meditations, Book IX | IX, 21

  • “Live as on a mountain. ...Let men see, let them know a real man who lives according to nature. If they cannot endure him, let them kill him. For that is better than to live thus.”

    Meditations, Book X | X, 15

All 16 Marcus Aurelius quotes on life →

Continue reading