- Source
- Epicurus. Epicuri epistulae tres et ratae sententiae a Laertio Diogene Servatae. von der Mühll, Peter, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1922.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0537.tlg014.humanitext-grc1:1-25
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-26
A collection of fundamental teachings and sayings by Epicurus and his school concerning death, pain, pleasure, friendship, nature, and desire. It expounds practical wisdom for achieving true happiness and tranquility of the soul (ataraxia).
Τὸ μακάριον καὶ ἄφθαρτον οὔτε αὐτὸ πράγματα ἔχει οὔτε ἄλλῳ παρέχει, οὔτε ὀργαῖς οὔτε χάρισι συνέχεται· ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ γὰρ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα.
The blessed and immortal has no troubles itself, nor does it cause them to any other; hence it is subject neither to anger nor to favor, for all such things exist only in weakness.
Ὁ θάνατος οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς· τὸ γὰρ διαλυθὲν ἀναισθητεῖ· τὸ δὲ ἀναισθητοῦν οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς.
Death is nothing to us; for that which is dissolved is without sensation, and that which is without sensation is nothing to us.
Οὐ χρονίζει τὸ ἀλγοῦν ἐν τῇ σαρκί, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἄκρον τὸν ἐλάχιστον χρόνον πάρεστι, τὸ δὲ μέσον τὸ ὑπερτεῖνον τὸ ἡδόμενον1 κατὰ σάρκα 〈οὐ〉 πολλὰς ἡμέρας ὑπάρχει, αἱ δὲ πολυχρόνιοι τῶν ἀρρωστιῶν πλεονάζον ἔχουσιν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ τὸ ἡδόμενον ἢ τὸ ἀλγοῦν.
Pain in the flesh does not last long; rather, the extreme pain is present for the shortest time, while the intermediate pain, which exceeds the pleasure in the flesh, does not last for many days, and long-lasting illnesses have a greater amount of pleasure in the flesh than of pain.
Πᾶσα ἀλγηδὼν εὐκαταφρόνητος· ἡ γὰρ σύντονον ἔχουσα τὸ πονοῦν σύντομον ἔχει τὸν χρόνον, ἡ δὲ χρονίζουσα περὶ τὴν σάρκα ἀβληχρὸν ἔχει τὸν πόνον.
All pain is easy to disregard; for that which is intense has a short duration, while that which lingers in the flesh has but a mild pain.
Οὐκ ἔστιν ἡδέως ζῆν ἄνευ τοῦ φρονίμως καὶ καλῶς καὶ δικαίως· ὅπου δὲ τοῦτο μὴ ὑπάρχει, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡδέως ζῆν.
It is not possible to live pleasantly without living prudently, honorably, and justly; and where these are not present, it is not possible to live pleasantly.
Οὐκ ἔστι τὸν λάθρα τι ποιοῦντα, ὧν συνέθεντο2 πρὸς ἀλλήλους εἰς τὸ μὴ βλάπτειν μηδὲ βλάπτεσθαι, πιστεύειν ὅτι λήσει, κἂν μυριάκις ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος λανθάνῃ· μέχρι γὰρ καταστροφῆς ἄδηλον εἰ λήσει.
It is not possible for one who secretly does anything contrary to the agreements made with one another not to harm or be harmed, to believe that he will escape detection, even if he escapes detection ten thousand times at present; for until the end of his life, it is uncertain whether he will escape detection.
Ἀδικοῦντα λαθεῖν μὲν δύσκολον, πίστιν δὲ λαβεῖν ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαθεῖν ἀδύνατον.
For one who does injustice, to escape detection is difficult, and to obtain confidence about escaping detection is impossible.
Ὁ τῆς φύσεως πλοῦτος ὥρισται καὶ εὐπόριστός ἐστιν. ὁ δὲ τῶν κενῶν δοξῶν εἰς ἄπειρον ἐκπίπτει καὶ ἔστι δυσπόριστος.
The wealth demanded by nature is limited and easy to procure; but that demanded by groundless opinions extends to infinity and is difficult to procure.
Κακὸν ἀνάγκη, ἀλλ’ οὐδεμία ἀνάγκη ζῆν μετὰ ἀνάγκης.
Necessity is an evil, but there is no necessity to live under necessity.
Μέμνησο ὅτι θνητὸς ὢν τῇ φύσει καὶ λαβὼν χρόνον ὡρισμένον ἀνέβης τοῖς περὶ φύσεως διαλογισμοῖς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπειρίαν καὶ τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ κατεῖδες "τά τ’ ἐόντα τά τ’ ἐσσόμενα πρό τ’ ἐόντα. "
Remember that, though you are mortal by nature and have received a limited span of time, you have ascended through contemplation of nature to infinity and eternity, and have beheld “the things that are, the things that will be, and the things that were before.”
Τῶν πλείστων ἀνθρώπων τὸ μὲν ἡσυχάζον ναρκᾷ, τὸ δὲ κινούμενον λυττᾷ.
Of most people, their stillness is a numbness, and their activity is madness.
Ὁ δίκαιος βίος ἀταρακτότατος, ὁ δὲ ἄδικος πλείστης ταραχῆς γέμων.
The just life is the most free from trouble, but the unjust life is full of the greatest confusion.
Ὧν ἡ σοφία παρασκευάζεται εἰς τὴν τοῦ ὅλου βίου μακαριότητα, πολὺ μέγιστόν ἐστιν ἡ τῆς φιλίας κτῆσις.
Of all the things which wisdom provides to make life entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship.
Γεγόναμεν ἅπαξ, δὶς δὲ οὐκ ἔστι γενέσθαι· δεῖ δὲ τὸν αἰῶνα μηκέτι εἶναι· σὺ δὲ οὐκ ὢν τῆς αὔριον 〈κύριος3〉 ἀναβάλλῃ τὸν καιρόν· ὁ δὲ βίος μελλησμῷ παραπόλλυται καὶ εἷς ἕκαστος ἡμῶν ἀσχολούμενος ἀποθνῄσκει.
We are born once, and cannot be born twice; and we must of necessity no longer exist for all eternity. But you, though you are not master of tomorrow, postpone your opportunity; and life is wasted in delay, and each one of us dies busy.
Ἤθη ὥσπερ τὰ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἴδια τιμῶμεν, ἄν τε χρηστὰ ἔχωμεν καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζηλούμενα, ἄν τε μή· οὕτω χρὴ καὶ 〈τὰ〉 τῶν πέλας, ἂν ἐπιεικεῖς ὦσιν.
We value our own characters as our very own, whether we have good ones admired by others or not; in the same way, we ought to value those of our neighbors, if they are decent.
Οὐδεὶς βλέπων τὸ κακὸν αἱρεῖται αὐτό, ἀλλὰ δελεασθεὶς ὡς ἀγαθῷ 〈ὄντι αὐτῷ καὶ οὐκ ἀποβλέψας〉 πρὸς τὸ μεῖζον αὐτοῦ κακὸν ἐθηρεύθη.
No one chooses evil seeing it as such, but being enticed by it as if it were a good, and failing to look to the greater evil that follows it, is caught in the trap.
Οὐ νέος μακαριστός, ἀλλὰ γέρων βεβιωκὼς καλῶς· ὁ γὰρ νέος ἀκμὴν πολὺς ὑπὸ τῆς τύχης ἑτεροφρονῶν πλάζεται· ὁ δὲ γέρων καθάπερ ἐν λιμένι τῷ γήρᾳ καθώρμικεν τὰ πρότερον δυσελπιστούμενα τῶν ἀγαθῶν4 ἀσφαλεῖ κατακλείσας χάριτι.
It is not the young man who is to be congratulated, but the old man who has lived well; for the young man, in his prime, wanders about with conflicting thoughts under the sway of fortune, while the old man has anchored in old age as in a harbor, safely preserving in secure gratitude those goods which he previously despaired of attaining.
Ἀφαιρουμένης προσόψεως καὶ ὁμιλίας καὶ συναναστροφῆς ἐκλύεται τὸ ἐρωτικὸν πάθος.
When the sight of the beloved, conversation, and association are removed, the passion of love is dissolved.
Τοῦ γεγονότος ἀμνήμων ἀγαθοῦ γέρων τήμερον γεγένηται.
An old man who is forgetful of the good that has happened to him becomes today as if he had never been.
Τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν αἱ μέν εἰσι φυσικαὶ καὶ ἀναγκαῖαι, αἳ δὲ φυσικαὶ μὲν οὐκ ἀναγκαῖαι δέ, αἱ δὲ οὔτε φυσικαὶ οὔτε ἀναγκαῖαι ἀλλὰ παρὰ κενὴν δόξαν γινόμεναι.
Of desires, some are natural and necessary, some are natural but not necessary, and some are neither natural nor necessary but arise from groundless opinion.
Οὐ βιαστέον τὴν φύσιν ἀλλὰ πειστέον· πείσομεν δὲ τὰς ἀναγκαίας ἐπιθυμίας ἐκπληροῦντες, τάς τε φυσικὰς ἂν μὴ βλάπτωσι, τὰς δὲ βλαβερὰς πικρῶς ἐλέγχοντες.
We must not force nature, but persuade her; and we shall persuade her by fulfilling the necessary desires, and also the natural ones if they do not cause harm, but sternly rejecting those that are harmful.
Ὁ ἄπειρος χρόνος καὶ ὁ πεπερασμένος ἴσην ἔχει τὴν ἡδονήν, ἐάν τις ὀρθῶς αὐτῆς τὰ πέρατα καταμετρήσῃ τῷ λογισμῷ.
Infinite time and finite time contain equal pleasure, if one measures its limits correctly by reason.
Πᾶσα φιλία δι’ ἑαυτὴν αἱρετή· ἀρχὴν δὲ εἴληφεν ἀπὸ τῆς ὠφελείας.
All friendship is desirable for its own sake, but it takes its origin from utility.
Ἐνύπνια οὐκ ἔλαχε φύσιν θείαν οὐδὲ μαντικὴν δύναμιν, ἀλλὰ γίνεται κατὰ ἔμπτωσιν εἰδώλων.
Dreams have no divine nature or prophetic power, but they occur due to the impact of images.
Ἡ πενία μετρουμένη τῷ τῆς φύσεως τέλει μέγας ἐστὶ πλοῦτος· πλοῦτος δὲ μὴ ὁριζόμενος μεγάλη ἐστὶ πενία.
Poverty, when measured by the goal of nature, is great wealth; but wealth that has no limits is great poverty.
- 3τὸ δὲ μέσον τὸ ὑπερτεῖνον τὸ ἡδόμενον
The subject is tò dè méson ("the intermediate [pain]"), and tò hyperteînon is a present participle meaning "that which exceeds," taking tò hēdomēnon ("pleasure") as its direct object. Although the succession of substantivized adjectives and participles can be confusing, tò hyperteînon functions attributively to restrict tò méson, indicating an intermediate pain that exceeds physical pleasure.
- 6ὧν συνέθεντο
The relative pronoun hôn is in the genitive case because of the grammatical attraction to the omitted antecedent toútōn ("of those things"), where one would grammatically expect the accusative hà as the object of synéthento.
- 14σὺ δὲ οὐκ ὢν τῆς αὔριον 〈κύριος〉
There is a lacuna in the manuscripts, and the word kýrios ("master of") is restored. Consequently, tês aúrion (the adverbial "tomorrow" substantivized in the genitive case) functions as the objective genitive governed by kýrios.
- 17τὰ πρότερον δυσελπιστούμενα τῶν ἀγαθῶν
tôn agathôn ("of the goods") is a partitive genitive qualifying the preceding substantivized neuter plural participle tà ... dyselpistoúmena ("the things previously despaired of"), meaning "those of the goods which were previously despaired of."
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1