Epicurus

It is better to be unhappy and reasonable than happy and unreasonable.

The wise man laughs at fate, since he knows that some things happen by necessity, others by chance, and others through his own agency.

The knowledge of the celestial phenomena has no other end than to procure tranquility and firmness of mind.

The wise man does not deprecate life nor does he fear the end of life.

One must not pretend to philosophize, but really philosophize; for what we need is not the semblance of health, but real health.

The acquisition of riches has been for many men not an end, but a change, of troubles.

The wise man is but little favored by fortune, but his reason procures him the greatest and most valuable goods.

The wise man will not groan and howl when he is tortured.

The wise man will not be miserable when he is old.

The wise man will not be more grateful for good things when they are present than when they are not.

Death is nothing to us; for that which is dissolved is without sensation, and that which lacks sensation is nothing to us.

Of all the means which wisdom acquires to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is the possession of friends.

Let no one when young delay to study philosophy, nor when old grow weary of studying it. For no one is either too early or too late for the health of the soul.

It is better to be unfortunate in a reasonable manner than to be fortunate in an unreasonable one.

Empty is the argument of the philosopher by which no human suffering is therapeutically treated. For just as there is no profit in medicine if it does not expel the diseases of the body, so there is no profit in philosophy either, if it does not expel the suffering of the soul.

The wise man is not afraid of death; indeed, he welcomes it as a release from the bondage of the body.

A free man cannot acquire many possessions, because this is difficult to do without serving either crowds or kings.

We must not violate nature, but obey her. And we shall obey her if we fulfill the necessary desires and also the natural, if they bring no harm, but sternly reject the harmful.

The man who says that all things happen of necessity cannot criticize one who says that not all things happen of necessity. For he admits that the very statement he is making is made of necessity.

It is impossible for someone to dispel his fears about the most important matters if he doesn't know the nature of the universe but still suspects something of the stories told in myths. So that it is impossible to enjoy unmixed pleasures without natural science.