Even if a human is really extremely healthy, the mere fear of losing one's health can ruin his or her life, believed the great Greek philosopher Epicurus (341–270 BCE). So Epicurus and I have one sound advice: simply stop worrying about everything and your life will turn to the better.
Epicurus believed that fear and desire are the real obstacles that prevent us from reaching the true happiness. Epicurus said, even if somebody is extremely famous or rich or both, he too often just wants to be more famous and rich and he will never be really satisfied with his life.
Epicurus believed that this is your only life on earth you cannot be really happy if you worry about the things coming after death and this basic truth has not changed in the last 2400 years.
Epicurus believed that our real basic needs are just food, drink and shelter from the elements. Those are in the end quite easily provided, given that desired food is not caviare and drink is not champagne. So the basic needs are quite easily provided, if a human just seeks moderate quantities and qualities of them.
The first task for followers of Epicurus is to find out those things that they really need and then really enjoy them. The final and biggest task is to achieve a trust to the fact they can achieve those things also in the future, so that the fear of losing these little enjoyments don't start eating you.
Epicureans value modesty and moderation in all things, but happily for us also modern followers of Epicurus occasional feasts are allowed, providing that it does not form to a habit that cannot be broken on will.
The Epicurean ideas about suffering are based on a very practical observation that long-lasting and very painful illnesses are very rare. Illnesses are either short and painful or long-lasting and much less painful.
Epicurus believed that a living person needs not to worry about death at all. When you are alive, there is no reason to worry about death, and when you are dead you can simply worry about it no more. "Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist", said this wise old man.
When fear of death does not poison one's life, a human can live his life happily. Epicurus reminds that in death a human just returns to the stage he was before he or she was born, as you were not in existence before your birth. There is nothing to fear in this state on not being.
Epicurus had a very practical way of seeing life. He said that people did not restrain themselves from doing bad things because they saw those thing as immoral, but because they were afraid of being caught doing things that were forbidden by the community. The rules of society on the other hand were formed to ensure a workable society and must therefore be obeyed.
Epicurus was not interested in politics but he wanted people to form maximum amount of contacts and friendships in a society. Friends and philosophy were the means for overcoming fear that was for him the base for a good life.
Finally I am sorry to report that Epicurus was very weary of sex. He feared that sex can cause unnecessary fears and frustrations. Sex was for Epicurus a quite unnecessary thing outside marriage. Friendship was always way more important for him than sex, but Epicurus was a human being and could not be right in all counts, after all.
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Epicurus believed that our real basic needs are just food, drink and shelter from the elements.
