The fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.
EpicurusRead
Why should I fear death?_x000D_ If I am, then death is not._x000D_ If Death is, then I am not._x000D_ Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?_x000D_ Long time men lay oppressed with slavish fear._x000D_ Religious tyranny did domineer._x000D_ At length the mighty one of Greece_x000D_ Began to assent the liberty of man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote explores the nature of death and challenges the fear surrounding it.
Epicurus presents a thought-provoking argument about the nature of death and existence, suggesting that death should not be feared because it is merely the cessation of experience. If one is alive, death is not a reality, and if death exists, one is not present to experience it, thus rendering fear of death unfounded. The quote criticizes the oppressive fear instilled by religious tyranny and advocates for the liberation of the human spirit from such fears.
Themes
DeathFearLifeExistencePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared at a memorial service to highlight the idea of embracing life rather than fearing death.
More from Epicurus
All quotes →Accustom yourself to believe that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply awareness, and death is the privation of all awareness; therefore a right understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life an unlimited time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality. For life has no terror; for those who thoroughly apprehend that there are no terrors for them in ceasing to live.
EpicurusRead
The wise man who has become accustomed to necessities knows better how to share with others than how to take from them, so great a treasure of self-sufficiency has he found.
EpicurusRead
We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.
EpicurusRead
I was not, I was, I am not, I care not. (Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo)
EpicurusRead
Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.
EpicurusRead
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