What happens in the external world does not DETERMINE one’s mental / emotional experience.
It’s better to see oneself as a student than as a master — at any stage of life and development.
Be tolerant. No one knows enough to justify smug superiority.
Self-expression is what we live for, and it is curtailed to everyone’s detriment.
Oh so many things. My epistemological stance is that one should be ready to drop any belief like a hot rock in the face of better information or better means to understanding.
One of the most fundamental changes is that I used to take for granted that there was a god. Now I’m agnostic about whether there is one, and am virtually certain that – in the unlikely event there is a god – it (she? they? he?) bears no resemblance to any of the tribally derived deities of the various world religions.
I used to think introversion was something that could be, and should be, overcome. Now, I believe the healthy approach is in accepting it and managing one’s life so that it’s not a problem. Truth be told, in my youth, I had a lot of grandiose ideas about what was possible with regards to the mind, ideas which I have jettisoned in favor of one’s that better match the empirical evidence.
Death is nothing to us, because a body that has been dispersed into elements experiences no sensations, and the absence of sensation is nothing to us.
principal doctrines – No. 2
Nothing is enough to someone for whom what is enough is too little.
Vatican Sayings – No. 68
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 friends.
Principal Doctrines – No. 27
Don’t spoil what you have by desiring what you don’t have; but remember that what you now have was once among the things only hoped for.
vatican sayings – No. 35
No pleasure is a bad thing in itself, but some pleasures are only obtainable at the cost of excessive troubles.
Principal doctrines – No. 8
And Five Honorable Mentions:
[T]here are an infinite number of worlds, some like this world, others unlike it.
Letter to Herodotus
Dreams have neither a divine nature nor a prophetic power, but they are the result of images that impact upon us.
vatican sayings – No. 24
It is pointless for a person to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.
vatican sayings – No. 65
But one must not be so much in love with the explanation by a single way as wrongly to reject all others…
Letter to pythocles
Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search thereof when he is grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.
Letter to Menoeceus
SOURCE: Epicurus. 2021. The Fundamental Books of Epicurus: Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Letters. Trans. by: Robert Drew Hicks & R. Medeiros. Independently published on Amazon. 45pp.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.
Never ruin an apology with an excuse.
In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there is bacteria.
Many people die at twenty five and aren’t buried until they are seventy five.
Never confuse Motion with Action.
And Five Honorable Mentions:
Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few his precepts!
It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.
If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.
Tis a great confidence in a friend to tell him your faults; greater to tell him his.
Which topics would you like to be more informed about?
I’d love to know why the fundamental equations and constants that govern the universe appear to be tailor-made to generating life?
I’d love to know whether there is other intelligent life in the universe, and – if not – why not? (And, if so, have they visited, are they visiting, do they intend to visit, and – if none of the above – why not?)
I’d love to know whether there is meaning to life other than moving energy to higher states of entropy in a Sisyphean fashion (and any other meaning that one independently chooses for one’s self?)
But I’m doubtful any of that will be clarified in my lifetime, so I guess I’ll have to stick to more down to earth topics, such as: “Is ‘a good life’ a meaningful statement, and – if yes – how does one go about pursuing one.”
Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.
The world as experienced through my mind is not a true reflection of the world. The mentally-experienced world is malleable and can be painted beautiful.
All things are impermanent, so nothing is worth great angst.
There are two ways to live life: take everything seriously or take nothing seriously.
What personality trait in people raises a red flag with you?
When a “grown man” makes life / wellbeing decisions based on what others will think of him, one of the words in quotation marks is in question. So, I guess… conformity.
Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life by Daniel KleinIt should be small enough that I won’t acquire new things without asking whether they are necessary, and whether their value exceeds their spatial cost. [And, also, such that it encourages spending time outside.] Besides that, it should be an environment within which one can live healthily.
What brings you peace?
Being in the now, and feeling – but not feeding – emotional sensations.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 