Essay about Epictetus: Personal Life and Happiness

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Philosophy: Guide to Happiness. Epicurus on Happiness
Misty Masse
April 20, 2015

Ever since ancient times human beings have looked to philosophy for the secret of happiness. Epicurus found more knowledge on the pursuit of happiness than any other philosopher out there. Very little of Epicurus has survived over the years, most of his books have been lost over the centuries leaving his suggestions on happiness to be reassembled with few remains of information. Epicurus did believed that we could all find a way to be happy the problem was that everyone was always looking in the wrong place for that happiness. He promised that he could show us how to find happiness and how to live a happy life without feeling guilty for it. Can money solve everything? Can it bring happiness to our lives? Those are the questions Epicurus wanted us to stop and think about before giving suggestions on finding happiness. Epicurus did say that pleasure is the most important thing in life. With the life he lived his was far from pleasurable, but he was happy and content with the simple life he had. Epicurus did not live a luxurious life, he had a simple house, always drank water rather than life and no luxurious or expensive foods. Most people feel that material things will make them happy giving them the impulse for a shopping spree. Epicurus thought he understood the need for our shopping sprees or for spending too much money and that was because we don’t really understand what we need and the difference of what we want. Epicurus found ways to achieve happiness without spending money, and the first thing he thought we needed was friends. He took friendship very seriously. He took friendship seriously because he believed friends were a major source of happiness. He stated that to never eat a meal or snack alone, because eating alone is the same as being a lion or a wolf. You should always have a companion when eating. The second thing Epicurus thought was needed to achieve happiness was freedom. In order to achieve freedom, Epicurus thought you needed to be economically independent and financially stable. We must free ourselves from the everyday prison of life and politics. Live a simple life. Epicurus also believed the third way to achieve happiness was an analyze life. He meant that we need to take time off from all the worry and stress we consume on a daily basis and analyze what is causing it. We can diminish the stress and worry if we have time
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