Sublime

Épicure croit possible d’accroître le bonheur par le fait de réduire la souffrance à l’extrême. L’une de ses grandes conclusions est que la peur de la mort est la première cause de souffrance. Il a ainsi passé une grande partie de son existence à élaborer des méthodes philosophiques visant à diminuer cette peur de la mort.

But I shall be asked, Why do people delight in continually conversing with you? I have told you already, Athenians, the whole truth about this matter: they like to hear the cross-examination of the pretenders to wisdom; there is amusement in it.

At first, says Plutarch, Attica was divided by families.252 Some of these families of the primitive period, like the Eumolpidae, the Cecropidae, the Gephyraei, the Phytalidae, and the Lakiadae, were perpetuated to the following ages. At that time the city did not exist; but every family, surrounded by its younger branches and its clients, occupied

The difficulty, my friends, is not to avoid death, but to avoid unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death.

Men of Athens, this reputation of mine has come of a certain sort of wisdom which I possess. If you ask me what kind of wisdom, I reply, wisdom such as

The Apology

when someone reminded Socrates* that he ought to be preparing for his trial, he replied, ‘Don’t you think that I’ve been preparing for this my whole life through?