Epicurus built a garden on the edge of Athens and invited friends to live there. His philosophy was gentle: pleasure is good, but the deepest pleasure is freedom from anxiety. Do not fear the gods, they are indifferent. Do not fear death, you will not experience it. Eat simply, love your friends, and think clearly. His school welcomed women and enslaved people, which scandalized Athens. His teachings were distorted for centuries but remain among the most humane in philosophy.
Born on Samos to Athenian colonists. His father was a schoolteacher. Epicurus later said he turned to philosophy at age fourteen, dissatisfied with his teachers’ inability to explain chaos.
Words
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
