Monday, October 7, 2013

On facing death


"Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not. The absence of life is not evil; death is no more alarming than the nothingness before birth." 

I was reading an article about ancient Greek philosophers a few days ago when I came across these lines by Epicurus. The ideas of this 3rd century B.C. philosopher were indeed unique. To him, the purpose of philosophy was to lead a happy and tranquil life with freedom from fear. Living such a self-sufficient life surrounded by good friends was considered the ultimate achievement by his school of thought.

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