4 Knowledge Nuggets From Epicurus That Will Stop Your Hunger for Wanting More
Ignore the crave and stay focused.
Epicurus lived till the age of 71.
A treasure Epicurus held close to his heart was the garden where he taught.
“A simple garden (Ho Kepos) located in Athens.”
According to Epicurus, most humans possess a different kind of flame. The flame of:
- Wanting more
- Being materialistic
- Being able to afford everything
We will be happy if we appreciate the little things in our life. If not, sadness will set on us like poverty.
Listen:
(It’s okay to want more. We all want the best for ourselves.)
But you know where the problem arises? When you set a higher bar for your happiness. For example:
- I will not eat if I don’t get my pastry.
- I only wear top-notch brands.
Every day is not alike. Setting a materialistic bar for yourself only hurts your expectation.
Instead, stop challenging nature and join your palms to appreciate whatever nature feeds.
For that reason, below are 4 quotes from Epicurus that will stop your hunger for wanting more.
1. Use your time wisely
- Epicurus studied under Pamphilus.
But after giving a two-year term in the military, Epicurus changed. At the age of 35, Epicurus came back to Athens and established an Epicurean school.
While most of his time was spent in exile, war, and military service, Epicurus found himself.
That’s when he said:
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.”
Time wasted is gone.
Instead, make up for that lost time. Epicurus, even with his remaining 36 years, reshaped the world in a way that people respect him and his philosophies.
How to apply?
- For you, 36 years might be less.
- For Epicurus, it is what he had.
He exerted his full effort to find the Epicurean school, attracting various theoretical students.
He always believed that if you use your time wisely, it’s enough. But you’re mistaken if you keep looking back like life will somehow fix you for the lost years.
Only you can make up for the lost years. Nothing else!
2. Set a lower bar
Epicurus studied philosophy till the end of his days.
But how was he content?
Epicurus was never distracted by dreams, visions, and the richness of life. This is one of the reasons he never married and had no children.
One time, Epicurus said:
“Pleasure is the first good. It is the beginning of every choice and every aversion. It is the absence of pain in the body and of troubles in the soul.”
For that reason, Epicurus classified pleasure into two different compounds:
- Moving pleasure: satisfying a desire which may be created to eat a hamburger, buy clothes, etc.
- Static pleasure: when a person is wholly fed after eating and fulfilled after buying clothes, the state of being no longer in need is itself pleasurable.
According to Epicurus, we are enveloped by these pleasures every day.
How to apply?
Moving pleasures may arise when we:
- Witness sales and discounts at shops
- Notice people wearing affable cloths
- Are unhappy
Our sadness is a product of the bad decisions we make in our life.
That’s why most people are sad even after fulfilling their moving pleasures. To combat that, set a lower bar.
Rember that pleasures is what make us human. It adds fun to our lives. But who says you have to fulfill all the pleasures?
Play with it a little and startle yourself.
3. Two peas in a pod
Epicurus believed that there are 3 ingredients for happiness:
- Friends
- Freedom
- Analyzed life
In short, when Epicurus came to Athens, he moved in with his friends.
According to Epicurus:
“A life without friends is a life diseased, pained, and in need of succor.”
When you have good friends with whom you can share your thoughts, divide your knowledge and spend time, you will never consider your life unsatisfactory.
Epicurus believed that friendship fits into the category of natural and necessary desires.
How to apply?
Most of the stoic teachings encircled around friends.
Because:
- A teacher who teaches you is your friend
- Your parents are your friends
- Your children are your friends
Life is peaceful when you consider people as your companions.
Many people despise Epicurus for living with his friends, but Epicurus was a man of his thoughts.
During his life, he spent time with friends, learned new things, and bested the unexplainable dilemma of pleasure.
In short, Epicurus balanced his life with: freedom, friends, and redrafting knowledge as a teacher.
4. Trade your desires
Epicureanism was developed as a challenge to Plato’s theory.
Epicureanism focuses on the importance of pleasure and how a person can live the most pleasurable life in moderation.
For that reason, Epicurus reshaped his mentality and taught himself moderate pleasurable ways:
- Being content with simple things
- Conversation with friends
- Living a full, freedom life
According to him, he traded one pleasure for another.
How is that possible?
It means that Epicurus traded:
Physical pleasures → conversations with friendsIn this way, Epicurus could control his physical desires, such as food, drink, and sex.
Rather than fulfilling physical desires, he talked with friends, taught others, and lived a smooth life.
How to apply?
Most of the thing human need can not even fit on one plate.
Clarifies Epicurus:
“The things you need are few and easy to come by, but the things you can imagine you need are infinite, and you will never be satisfied.”
When you start trading one pleasure for another, you’ll realize sex, food, and drink don’t even mean anything.
We know little about pleasures because we never explored what we want.
For that, below are some simple substitutes that you can use in your daily life in avoidance to sex, food, and drink:
- Hugging a child
- Watching games with friends
- Go on a long walk
- Feeding cats
- Being productive
- Traveling
- Praying
Final thoughts:
POV: our society is obsessed with pleasures.
Whenever someone says “pleasure,” orgasm and sex dilute our minds. But Epicurus’s life proves that pleasure has more to it than the normal eye meets.
In Epicurus’ philosophy, we should live a joyful life and fulfill our pleasures as long as they are in moderation.
Which pleasures do you think you can substitute?
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