dego aemulus
it is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and honorably and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and honorably and justly without living pleasantly. whenever any one of these is lacking, when, for instance, the man is not able to live wisely, though he lives honorably and justly, it is impossible for him to live a pleasant life.

no pleasure is a bad thing in itself, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail disturbances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.

the just man is most free from disturbance, while the unjust is full of the utmost disturbance.

bodily pleasure does not increase when the pain of want has been removed; after that it only admits of variation. the limit of mental pleasure, however, is reached when we reflect on these bodily pleasures and their related emotions, which used to cause the mind the greatest alarms.

he who understands the limits of life knows that it is easy to obtain that which removes the pain of want and makes the whole of life complete and perfect. thus he has no longer any need of things which involve struggle.

if you do not on every occasion refer each of your actions to the ultimate end prescribed by nature, but instead of this, in the act of choice or avoidance, turn to some other end, your actions will not be consistent with your theories.

of our desires, some are natural and necessary, others are natural but not necessary; and others are neither natural nor necessary, but are due to groundless opinion.

poverty, if measured by the natural end, is great wealth; but wealth, if not limited, is great poverty.

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.

don't spoil what you have by desiring what you don't have; but remember that what you now have was once among the things only hoped for.

the love of money, if unjustly gained, is impious, and, if justly, shameful; for it is inappropriate to be miserly even with justice on one's side.

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.

[addressing a young man] i understand from you that your natural disposition is too much inclined toward sexual passion. follow your inclination as you will, provided only that you neither violate the laws, disturb well-established customs, harm any one of your neighbors, injure your own body, nor waste your possessions. that you be not checked by one or more of these provisons is impossible; for a man never gets any good from sexual passion, and he is fortunate if he does not receive harm.

the wise man feels no more pain when being tortured himself than when his friend is tortured, and will die for him; for if he betrays his friend, his whole life will be confounded by distrust and completely upset.

what cannot be satisfied is not a man's stomach, as most men think, but rather the false opinion that the stomach requires unlimited filling.

nothing is enough to someone for whom what is enough is little.

do nothing in your life that will cause you to fear if it is discovered by your neighbor.

the soul neither rids itself of disturbance nor gains a worthwhile joy through the possession of greatest wealth, nor by the honor and admiration bestowed by the crowd, or through any of the other things sought by unlimited desire.

- epicurius

Fact and fiction work as a team.