Quotes About Philosophy

Il vero saggio, come non gli dispiace vivere, così non teme di non vivere più. La vita per lui non è un male, né è un male il non vivere. Ma come dei cibi sceglie i migliori, non la quantità, così non il tempo più lungo si gode, ma il più dolce.

Quando dunque diciamo che il bene è il piacere, […] intendiamo […] quanto aiuta il corpo a non soffrire e l'animo a essere sereno.

To be rich is not the end, but only a change, of worries.

In a philosophical dispute, he gains most who is defeated, since he learns most.

It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls.

A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs...

A strict belief, fate is the worst kind of slavery; on the other hand there is comfort in the thought that God will be moved by our prayers.

The man least dependent upon the morrow goes to meet the morrow most cheerfully.

There is no such thing as justice in the abstract; it is merely a compact between men

Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not.

Why should I fear death? If I am, then death is not. If Death is, then I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not? Long time men lay oppressed with slavish fear. Religious tyranny did domineer. At length the mighty one of Greece Began to assent the liberty of man.

Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.

The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity.

The art of living well and the art of dying well are one.

If the gods listened to the prayers of men, all humankind would quickly perish since they constantly pray for many evils to befall one another.

I was not, I was, I am not, I care not. (Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo)

Empty is the argument of the philosopher which does not relieve any human suffering.

Death is nothing to us. When we exist, death is not; and when death exists, we are not. All sensation and consciousness ends with death and therefore in death there is neither pleasure nor pain. The fear of death arises from the belief that in death, there is awareness.

The fool's life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future.

He who says either that the time for philosophy has not yet come or that it has passed is like someone who says that the time for happiness has not yet come or that it has passed.

It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.

Let no one delay the study of philosophy while young nor weary of it when old.

The gods can either take away evil from the world and will not, or, being willing to do so cannot; or they neither can nor will, or lastly, they are able and willing. If they have the will to remove evil and cannot, then they are not omnipotent. If they can but will not, then they are not benevolent. If they are neither able nor willing, they are neither omnipotent nor benevolent. Lastly, if they are both able and willing to annihilate evil, why does it exist?

If you wish to make Pythocles rich, do not add to his store of money, but subtract from his desires.