Friends, by Epicurus
It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as confidence of their help. (Epicurus)
Archive of posts filed under the The teachings of Epicurus category.
Let every day be thanksgiving day!
The practice of gratitude creates the kind of mind that is required for the practice of abiding pleasure. Therefore make every day thanksgiving day. (“Tending the Epicurean Garden”, Hiram Crespo). The other day I took the opportunity of a long plane flight to write out a list of all the blessings in my life. It …
Treating one another properly
“Part of the training of a good Epicurean consists of learning how to properly treat each other as part of a loving, caring community of philosopher friends”. (from Tending the Epicurean Garden) One would hope that this sort of training would have been given by parents at an early age! Children soak up the teachings …
The crisis in philosophy (no, don’t leave the site!)
A philosopher’s words are empty if they do not heal the suffering of mankind. For just as medicine is useless if it does not remove sickness from the body, so philosophy is useless if it does not remove suffering from the soul.(Epicurus) Regrettably, modern philosophy has ceased to be relevant. On Wikipedia it is defined …
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A basic tenet of Epicureanism
To Epicurus truth and certainty are desirable and should lead to imperturbability and serenity. The study of the nature of things has a purpose: the cultivation of peace of mind and the dispelling of irrational fears that are born of ignorance and superstition. (Tending the Epicurean Garden, by Hiram Crespo) This is the basic idea …
“Tending the Epicurean Garden”
I was asked by the publishers, The Humanist Press, if I would review the latest book on Epicureanism by Hiram Crespo. Hiram is the founder of the Society of Friends of Epicurus. The book is a very useful addition to the literature on Epicurus and I would like to share in full what I said …
Money, money, money!
Millionaire households in the US raked in $80 million in unemployment benefit during the economic downturn, due to lack of means testing in federal aid programs. (Bloomberg 5th April 2013). Which is why they are millionaires. Epicurus believed you should live modestly, but enjoy life. Money matters less than love, friends, a sense of humor, …
It’s a short life. Don’t anguish about relationships gone wrong
Let go of things that repeatedly disappoint or upset you, drain your energy, keep you awake at night, bringing neither reward or joy. Some people are born disagreeable, without the capacity for love, caring or particular empathy. We have all met them – the people who are always trying to score points, get one up …
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“A touch of philosophy”
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough”. Mae West Mae West was an Epicurean, even if she never knew it. To do it right you have to seize every moment, make the most of it, have friends, go out and about, travel, enjoy yourself, learn as much as you …
A gold delivery
A Delhi businessman turned up at a hospital complaining that he had swallowed a metal bottle cap. What the doctors found on opening him up were 12 gold nuggets, each weighing 33 grams, in his intestines. The value of the gold was 16000 pounds or 25,000 dollars. He had smuggled the gold out of Singapore …
Loneliness
Loneliness is White Loneliness is white, Like a world with nothing in it, And a conversation that you can’t join in. Loneliness is like a dinner for one, And with all this loneliness you’ve gone too. (Poem written by Henry Hanrott, aged 9) Numbers don’t matter. You can feel lonely in a room full of …
Epicurus and the good life
A Christmas post about Epicureanism and happiness. The aim of Epicureanism was to help people achieve happiness and live a good life. But how did Epicurus understand the ‘good life’? Epicurus’ idea of happiness is quite different from most recent interpretations of the word. According to him, happiness was to be found only in a …
Here is Plato
“There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain”. (Plato) Epicureans are (or should be) lovers of wisdom, and we will add honor for good measure. The ranks of the lovers of gain, however, are already over-crowded. Epicureans should differentiate themselves by avoiding them.
Be a generalist, my boy!
Education and work have made us all increasingly specialized. The prevalent idea is that we all have to be experts in narrow fields. The other day I came across an Oxford lecturer who specializes in “bad music”. What next? Another lectures in hip-hop, not music, but hip-hop. We are so specialised that we seldom have …
Pope reaches out to us “poor sinners”
Pope Francis has reached out to atheists and agnostics, reassuring them that the Christian God will “forgive” them as long as they behave morally and follow their consciences. He did so as part of his recent interview with La Repubblica, commented upon previously on this blog. If one has doubts about the existence of a …