the principal doctrines of epicurus
the principal doctrines are 40 short sayings by epicurus they are a summary of the key elements
of epicurus philosophical system the first four make up the four-fold cure or tetrapharmacos which
is the center of the heart of epicurus philosophy the principal doctrines survive because they were
recorded by the ancient writer diogenes laitius in his lives and sayings of eminent philosophers
1. a happy and eternal being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble
upon any other being hence he is exempt from movements of anger and partiality
for every such movement implies weakness
2 death is nothing to us for the body when it has been resolved into its elements has no feeling
and that which has no feeling is nothing to us
3 the magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain when pleasure is present
so long as it is uninterrupted there is no pain either of body or of mind or of both together
4. continuous pain does not last long in the body on the contrary pain if extreme
is present a short time and even that degree of pain which barely outweighs
pleasure in the body does not last for many days together
illnesses of long duration even permit of an excess of pleasure over pain in the body
5 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
whenever any one of these is lacking when for instance the person is not able to live wisely
though he lives well and justly it is impossible for him to live a pleasant life 6. in order to
obtain security from other people any means whatever of procuring this was a natural good
7 some people have sought to become famous and renowned thinking that
thus they would make themselves secure against their fellow humans
if then the life of such persons really was secure they attained natural good if however it
was insecure they have not attained the end which by nature's own prompting they originally sought
8. no pleasure is in itself evil but the things which produce certain
pleasures entail annoyances many times greater than the pleasures themselves
9. if all pleasure had been capable of accumulation if this had gone on not only be
recurrences in time but all over the frame or at any rate over the principal parts of human nature
there would never have been any difference between one pleasure and another as in fact there is
10 if the objects which are productive of pleasures to profligate persons really freed
him from fears of the mind the fears i mean inspired by celestial and atmospheric phenomena
the fear of death the fear of pain if further they taught them to limit their desires we should never
have any fault to find with such persons for they would then be filled with pleasures to overflowing
on all sides and would be exempt from all pain whether of body or mind that is from all evil
11 if we had never been molested by alarms at celestial and atmospheric phenomena
nor by the misgiving that death somehow affects us nor by neglect of the proper
limits of pains and desires we should have had no need to study natural science
12 it would be impossible to banish fear on matters of the highest importance if a person
did not know the nature of the whole universe but lived in dread of what the legends tell us
hence without the study of nature there was no enjoyment of unmixed pleasures
13 there would be no advantage in providing security against our fellow humans
so long as we were alarmed by occurrences over our
heads or beneath the earth or in general by whatever happens in the boundless universe
14 when tolerable security against our fellow humans is attained then on a basis of power
sufficient to afford supports and of material prosperity arises in most genuine form the
security of a quiet private life withdrawn from the multitude 15 nature's wealth at once has
its bounds and is easy to procure but the wealth of vain fancies recedes to an infinite distance
16 fortune but seldom interferes with the wise person his greatest and highest
interests have been oh and will be directed by reason throughout the course of his life
17 the just person enjoys the greatest peace of mind while the unjust is full of the utmost
disquietude 18. pleasure in the body admits no increase when once the pain of want has been
removed after that it only admits of variation the limit of pleasure in the mind however is reached
when we reflect on the things themselves and their conjuncts which cause the mind the greatest alarms
19. unlimited time and limited time afford an equal amount of pleasure if we measure the limits
of that pleasure by reason 20 the body receives is unlimited the limits of pleasure and to provide
it requires unlimited time but the mind grasping in thought what the end and limit of the body is
and banishing the terrors of futurity procures a complete and perfect life and has no longer
any need of unlimited time nevertheless it does not shun pleasure and even in the hour of death
when ushered out of existence by circumstances the mind does not lack enjoyment of the best life
21 he who understands the limits of life knows how easy it is to procure enough to
remove the pain of want and make the whole of life complete and perfect
hence he has no longer any need of things which are not to be won saved by labor and conflict
22 we must take into account is the end all that really exists and all clear evidence of sense to
which we refer our opinions for otherwise everything will be full of uncertainty
and confusion 23 if you fight against all your sensations you will have no standard
to which to refer and thus no means of judging even those judgments which you pronounce false
24 if you reject absolutely any single sensation without stopping to discriminate with respect to
that which awaits confirmation between matter of opinion and that which is already present whether
in sensation or in feelings or in any immediate perception of the mind you will throw into
confusion even the rest of your sensations by your groundless belief and so you will be rejecting the
standard of truth altogether if in your ideas based upon opinion you hastily affirm is true
all that awaits confirmation as well as that which does not you will not escape error as you will be
maintaining complete ambiguity whenever it is a case of judging between right and wrong opinion
25 if you do not on every separate occasion refer each of your actions
to the end prescribed by nature but instead of this in the act of choice or avoid and
swerve aside to some other end your acts will not be consistent with your theories
26 all such desires is lead to no pain when they remain ungratified or unnecessary
and the longing is easily got rid of when the thing desired is difficult to procure or when
the desires seem likely to produce harm 27 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
28 the same conviction which inspires confidence that nothing we have to fear is eternal or even
of long duration also enables us to see that even in our limited conditions of life nothing
enhances our security so much as friendship 29 of our desires some are natural and necessary
others are natural but not necessary others again are neither natural nor necessary
but are due to illusory opinion 30 those natural desires which entail no pain when not gratified
though their objects are vehemently pursued also due to illusory opinion and when they are not got
rid of it is not because of their own nature but because of the person's illusory opinion
31 natural justice is a symbol or expression of usefulness to prevent one person from harming
or being harmed by another 32 those animals which are incapable of making covenants with one another
to the end that they may neither inflict nor suffer harm or without either justice or injustice
and those tribes which either could not or would not form mutual covenants to the
same end or in like case 33 there never was an absolute justice but only an agreement made in
reciprocal association in whatever localities now and again from time to time providing against the
infliction or suffering of harm 34 injustice is not in itself an evil but only in its consequence
viz the terror which is excited by apprehension that those appointed to punish such offences will
discover the injustice 35 it is impossible for the person who secretly violates any article
of the social compact to feel confident that he will remain undiscovered even if he has already
escaped 10 000 times for right on to the end of his life he is never sure he will not be detected
36 taken generally justice is the same for all to wit something found useful in mutual association
but in its application to particular cases of locality or conditions of whatever kind it varies
under different circumstances 37 among the things accounted just by conventional law whatever in
the needs of mutual association is attested to be useful is thereby stamped is just whether or not
it be the same for all and in case any law is made and does not prove suitable to the usefulness of
mutual association then this is no longer just and should the usefulness which is expressed by the
law vary and only for a time correspond with the prior conception nevertheless for the time being
it was just so long as we do not trouble ourselves about empty words but look simply at the facts
38 where without any change in circumstances the conventional laws when judged by their
consequences were seen not to correspond with the notion of justice such laws were not really just
but wherever the laws have ceased to be useful in consequence of a change in circumstances
in that case the laws were for the time being just when they were useful for the mutual
association of the citizens and subsequently ceased to be just when they ceased to be useful
39 he who best knew how to meet fear of external foes made into one family all the creatures he
could and those he could not he at any rate did not treat his aliens and where he found
even this impossible he avoided all association and so far as was useful kept them at a distance
40 those who were best able to provide themselves with the means of security against their
neighbours being thus in possession of the serious guarantee passed the most agreeable life in each
other's society and their enjoyment of the fullest intimacy was such that if one of them died before
his time the survivors did not mourn his death as if it called for sympathy thank you for watching