Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers

​And that even if the wise person is tortured, he is happy; and that only the wise person will feel gratitude, and equally toward friends both present and absent through both speech and action. When, however, he is being tortured, at that very time he does groan and lament. And that the wise person will not have intercourse with a woman where the laws forbid it, as Diogenes says in the epitome of Epicurus' Ethical Doctrines. Nor will he punish domestic slaves, but will rather have pity and show pardon to anyone who is diligent. They think that the wise person will not fall in love; nor will he care about burial; nor is erotic love sent by God, as Diogenes says in the twelfth book. Nor will he speak rhetorically well. And sexual intercourse, they say, never benefits, and it is a matter for satisfaction if it has not also done harm.

​And that the wise person will not marry or beget children as a rule, as Epicurus says in the Problems and in On Nature; yet at times, in accordance with the circumstances of life, he will marry. And that some will be converted. Nor indeed will he talk foolishly in drunkenness, as Epicurus says in the Symposium. Nor will he engage in politics, as in the first book of On Lives; nor will he be a tyrant; nor will he live like a Cynic, as in the second book of On Lives; nor will he beg. Furthermore, even if he is deprived of his eyesight, he will not lead himself out of life,

​as he says in the same book. And that the wise person will also feel grief, as Diogenes says in the fifth book of Selected Writings; and he will engage in lawsuits; and he will leave behind writings; but he will not deliver speeches at festivals; and he will provide for his estate and for the future. He will be fond of the countryside. He will set himself against fortune, and will betray no friend. He will provide for good reputation only to the extent of not being despised; and he will rejoice more than others in theoretical spectacles. And he will dedicate statues. If he should fare well, he would remain indifferent. And only the wise person would discuss music and poetics correctly; yet in practice he would not compose poems. And one wise person is not moved to be wiser than another. And he will make money, but only from his wisdom, when in need. And he will pay court to a monarch when the time is right. And he will rejoice with someone over his improvement; and he will set up a school, but not so as to attract crowds; and he will give readings before a multitude, but not willingly; and he will dogmatize and not remain in doubt; and in sleep he will be the same, and on occasion he will die for a friend. It also seems to them that errors are unequal. And health is a good for some, but indifferent for others. Courage does not arise by nature, but through calculation of what is advantageous; and friendship arises because of practical needs; yet one must take the first initiative (for we also sow the earth), and it is constituted by partnership among those who have been fulfilled with pleasures.

​Happiness is conceived in two ways: one is the highest, such as belongs to God, admitting of no increase; and the other is that which involves the addition and subtraction of pleasures. We must now proceed to the letter. "Epicurus to Menoeceus, greetings.

"Let no one when young delay to philosophize, nor when old grow weary of philosophizing; for no one is either too young or past the prime for the health of the soul. He who says that the season for philosophizing is not yet present or has already passed by is like one who says that the season for happiness is not yet present or is no longer here. So both the young person and the old person must philosophize: the latter so that, while growing old, he may be young in good things through gratitude for what has been; the former so that he may be young and ancient at the same time through lack of fear of what is to come. We must therefore practice the things that produce happiness, since when it is present we have everything, and when it is absent we do everything in order to have it.