50 Philosophical Epicurus Quotes for a Happy Life

By Danielle Dahl

Writer, Ph.D Candidate and Inspirational quote curator

Published January 26, 2021

These Epicurus quotes highlight his thoughts about friendship, death, philosophy, and more.

Epicurus, a Greek philosopher, turned against the popular teachings of Plato, and founded Epicureanism.

Epicurus was more progressive than many of his peers, and allowed women to take part in his school, ‘The Garden.’

His teachings centered on the idea that people could live a happy life if they were self-sufficient and surrounded by friends and loved ones.

I am really feeling these Epicurus quotes, as I agree with this philosophy wholeheartedly!

Epicurus faced some controversy because his teachings were in opposition to the early teachings of Christianity.

He taught that people could find peace and freedom if they let go of the idea of divine influence and suffering.

He also believed that death was the end of existence and torment in the afterlife was myth.

These Epicurus quotes expand more on his ideas about friendship, death, philosophy, and material possessions.

Don’t forget to also check out these Plato quotes on democracy, the republic and life.

If you love this quote collection, read out our most popular quote article about short inspirational quotes for daily motivation.

If you need more inspirational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Epicurus quotes that are a matter of life and death

1. “The art of living well and the art of dying well are one.” ― Epicurus

2. “It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls.” ― Epicurus

3. “Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.” ― Epicurus

4. “Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not coming, and, when death is coming, we are not. ” ― Epicurus

5. “Some men spend their whole life furnishing for themselves the things proper to life without realizing that at our birth each of us was poured a mortal brew to drink.” ― Epicurus

Epicurus quotes about Friendship and relationships

6. “To eat and drink without a friend is to devour like the lion and the wolf.” ― Epicurus

7. “It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.” ― Epicurus

8. “We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.” ― Epicurus

9. “Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.” ― Epicurus

10. “The noble man is chiefly concerned with wisdom and friendship; of these, the former is a mortal good, the latter an immortal one.” ― Epicurus

11. “You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” ― Epicurus

Philosophical Epicurus quotes

12. “Live in obscurity.” ― Epicurus

13. “I was not; I was, I am not; I care not.” ― Epicurus

14. “He who is not satisfied with a little is satisfied with nothing.” ― Epicurus

15. “Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” ― Epicurus

16. “The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it.” ― Epicurus

17 “He who least needs tomorrow will most gladly greet tomorrow.” ― Epicurus

18. “He who has peace of mind disturbs neither himself nor another.” ― Epicurus

19. “The misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.” ― Epicurus

20. “Empty is the argument of the philosopher which does not relieve any human suffering.” ― Epicurus

21. “Misfortune seldom intrudes upon the wise man; his greatest and highest interests are directed by reason throughout the course of life.” ― Epicurus

22. “Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.” ― Epicurus

23. “We must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed toward attaining it.” ― Epicurus

24. “Both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom: the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come.” ― Epicurus

If you’re enjoying these quotes, read our collection of Greek Philosopher quotes on ancient knowledge to motivate you

25. “The fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.” ― Epicurus

26. “If a person fights the clear evidence of his senses, he will never be able to share in genuine tranquillity.” ― Epicurus

27. “It is not the pretended but the real pursuit of philosophy that is needed, for we do not need the appearance of good health but to enjoy it in truth.” ― Epicurus

28. “He who says either that the time for philosophy has not yet come or that it has passed is like someone who says that the time for happiness has not yet come or that it has passed.” ― Epicurus

If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of grace quotes that will change your life.

Epicurus quotes about God and the masses

29. “It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.” ― Epicurus

30. “If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another.” ― Epicurus

31. “I never desired to please the rabble. What pleased them, I did not learn; and what I knew was far removed from their understanding.” ― Epicurus

32. “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.

Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?

Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” ― Epicurus

33. “The time when most of you should withdraw into yourself is when you are forced to be in a crowd.” ― Epicurus

34. “Don’t fear the gods, don’t worry about death. What is good is easy to get, and what is terrible is easy to endure.” ― Epicurus

35. “I have never wished to cater to the crowd; for what I know they do not approve, and what they approve I do not know.” ― Epicurus

36. “If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another.” ― Epicurus

37. “The opinions held by most people about the gods are not true conceptions of them but fallacious notions, according to which awful penalties are meted out to the evil and the greatest of blessings to the good.” ― Epicurus

Epicurus quotes about possessions and justice

38. “Contented poverty is an honorable estate.” ― Epicurus

39. “Justice… is a kind of compact not to harm or be harmed.” ― Epicurus

40. “Never say that I have taken it, only that I have given it back.” ― Epicurus

41. “Not what we have, but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.” ― Epicurus

42. “If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.” ― Epicurus

43. “There is no such thing as justice in the abstract; it is merely a compact between men.” ― Epicurus

44. “The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure, but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity.” ― Epicurus

45. “A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs.” ― Epicurus

46. “It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.” ― Epicurus

47. “I am grateful to blessed Nature because she made what is necessary easy to acquire and what is hard to acquire unnecessary.” ― Epicurus

48. “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.” ― Epicurus

49. “It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life.” ― Epicurus

50. “We must, therefore, pursue the things that make for happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything; but when it is absent, we do everything to possess it.” ― Epicurus

You might also like these Medusa quotes about the unique guardian from Greek mythology.

What did you learn from these Epicurus quotes?

While Epicurus is considered a hedonist because he believed people could seek their own pleasures in life, he adhered to a code of morality.

He believed that people could only be truly happy by living simply and making wise and moral choices.

He taught that people who lived their lives in a dishonest and immoral way would have more troubles in life.

He placed more value on platonic friendships than he did on sex and marriage.

Epicurus’ teachings made their way into the medical field thanks to Epicurean doctor Asclepiades of Bithynia.

His approach to treating patients was more sympathetic and less painful.

He also treated mental patients with kindness and natural therapies, instead of confinement.