EPICURUS

Samos, approx. 342 - 271 B.C.

WE SHOULD NOT DESTROY WHAT WE HAVE BY WISHING THAT WHICH WE DO NOT HAVE, BUT WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT WHICH WE HAVE IS WHAT WE ONCE WISHED FOR.

He was born in Samos, his parents being Athenians land owners. A distinguished philosopher, he settled in Athens and founded his own school of Philosophy. He stated that the basic principle of everything is matter, and beyond matter there is nothing but the Void. According to this materialistic theory, the only ultimate commodity is pleasure, not of momentary nature, but continuous, and the ultimate evil was pain, creating two poles around which the lives of mortal people are spinning. That is the reason why a man should prefer the spiritual over the physical pleasure as they last longer.