There is no rest for the striver, the person who just has to “get on”, as my father called it. One goal reached and another emerges, and all the time the clock is ticking. In “Time”, by Eva Hoffman, the writer contrasts slow, “lived time” with her first experience of American time when she emigrated to the United States: “It was not only that time moved faster in America – it pressed onwards in more stressful ways”, causing anxiety: “Everyone suffered from the stress of not doing enough, or the possibility of doing more, or at least feeling good or guilty about it”.

“We are on the go continually. We become breathless, and have no time left for calm and reflective appreciation of our twilight years, no deliciously long afternoons sitting with friends, or listening to music or musing about the story of our lives. And we will never get another chance for that.” (Travels with Epicurus, by Daniel Klein, p.15).

To be an Epicurean is to stand on the sidelines, apart from the consuming crowd, avoiding disagreeable people and building friendships with those with whom you have something in common. But even as we espouse the idea of the Epicurean garden and long lunch hours talking about the world, it becomes increasingly difficult to relax and stop the “getting on”. Modern life is frenetic. You can only do your best. Stop, regularly. Treat yourself. Go for a walk. Meet up with a friend. Go to a movie. The stressful stuff will still be there when you get back.