Epicurus Quotes on Virtue
The Epicurean treatment of virtue is instrumental rather than constitutive: the virtues — prudence, courage, justice, moderation — are valuable because and to the extent that they produce the stable pleasure (ataraxia) that constitutes the human good. This sets Epicurus directly against the Stoic doctrine that virtue alone is sufficient for happiness. The Letter to Menoeceus and the surviving Principal Doctrines preserve the canonical formulation: prudence is the greatest good and the source of every other virtue, because only the prudent person reliably calculates which pleasures bring lasting tranquility.
Quotes
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“It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly.”
Οὐκ ἔστιν ἡδέως ζῆν ἄνευ τοῦ φρονίμως καὶ καλῶς καὶ δικαίως, οὐδὲ φρονίμως καὶ καλῶς καὶ δικαίως ἄνευ τοῦ ἡδέως. ὅτῳ δὲ τοῦτο μὴ ὑπάρχει ἐξ οὗ ζῆν φρονίμως, καὶ καλῶς καὶ δικαίως ὑπάρχει, οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτον ἡδέως ζῆν. -
Attributed to Epicurus:
“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.”
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Attributed to Epicurus:
“If you wish to make Pythocles wealthy, do not give him more money; rather, reduce his desires.”
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Attributed to Epicurus:
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things only hoped for.”
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Attributed to Epicurus:
“We must not pretend to study philosophy, but really study it; for it is not the appearance of health we need, but real health.”
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Attributed to Epicurus:
“Live in obscurity.”
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Attributed to Epicurus:
“Empty is that philosopher's argument by which no human suffering is therapeutically treated.”
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“Don't fear god , Don't worry about death ; What is good is easy to get, and What is terrible is easy to endure. (tr. D. S. Hutchinson, 1994 ) The Tetrapharmakos , or "four-part cure", a summary of the first four Principal Doctrines . Composed by an unidentified Epicurean philosopher ( Usener 1887:69 ); reported by Philodemus , P.Herc. 1005, IV.10–14.”
ἄφοβον ὁ θεός, ἀνύποπτον ὁ θάνατος, καὶ τἀγαθὸν μὲν εὔκτητον, τὸ δὲ δεινὸν εὐεκκαρτέρητον. -
“Nearly allied to justice are the virtues of beneficence, compassion, gratitude, piety, and friendship.”
Ancient and Modern Celebrated Freethinkers(Half-Hours with the Freethinkers)