Epicurus
“We consider wealth to be a great good, not for its own sake, but for the sake of security.”
“The same conviction which makes us certain there is nothing terrible in not living makes us see that there is nothing to be feared in life.”
“The wise man does not deprecate life nor fear the cessation of life.”
“We must laugh and philosophize at the same time and attend to our household and employ our other faculties.”
“He who is not satisfied with a little will not be satisfied with much.”
“We must free ourselves from the prison of public education and politics.”
“We begin every choice and avoidance from pleasure, and to pleasure we return.”
“One must not spoil what is present by desiring what is absent.”
“The cry of the flesh is: not to be hungry, not to be thirsty, not to be cold.”
“Self-sufficiency is the greatest of all wealth.”
“No pleasure is in itself evil; but the things which produce certain pleasures bring with them disturbances many times greater.”
“The just life is most free from disturbance.”
“Of all the things which wisdom provides for the blessedness of life, by far the greatest is friendship.”
“It is not possible to live pleasantly without living prudently and honorably and justly.”
“We must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything.”
“Natural wealth is both limited and easy to obtain; the wealth of vain fancies extends to infinity.”
“He who understands the limits of life knows how easy it is to obtain that which removes pain.”
“Pain does not abide continuously in the flesh; when it is extreme it is present a short time.”
“The magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain.”
“The blessed and immortal has itself no trouble, and brings trouble to none other.”