The fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True wisdom lies in understanding the value of self-sufficiency and the importance of sharing.
This quote by Epicurus emphasizes that a wise person, who understands and appreciates the essentials of life, is better equipped to be generous towards others. The true wealth is not in what one can take from others, but in the ability to share one's resources and knowledge, stemming from the deep-seated sense of self-sufficiency that such wisdom brings.
Themes
WisdomSelf-SufficiencySharingGenerosityNecessities
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about the importance of community and generosity.
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
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
Haec ego non multis (scribo), sed tibi: satis enim magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus. I am writing this not to many, but to you: certainly we are a great enough audience for each other.
EpicurusRead
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