Sources of Anguish
Index 
20121113
quotes from Letters and Sayings of Epicurus Appearance and Reality "The greatest distress befalls the human soul because beliefs that celestial bodies have wishes and undertake actions and are responsible for things even though they are blessed and indestructible beings." "Fears also arise from perpetual expectation that some eternal and formidable harm might come to us in accordance to popular fairy tales" (climate change, anyone?) Death "Anguish also arises because the because of the fearful anticipation of death" "Anguish also arises because these anticipatory sufferings are incurred not through reasoned opinion but by means of an irrational representation of an life after death." Happiness "Because of this (unreasoned opinions) people suffer a much more intensified state of mental stress than if they had reasoned about what is logically possible." " If we pay attention, we shall be able to rightly explain and account for the forces which are responsible for all human fears and distress and, hence, rid ourselves of those fears." ..... above quotes from Letter to Herodotus: Human Fears, pages 26, 27 "Indeed, there can never be a recurrent similarity between, on the one hand, mental images what arises in sleep or what is engendered from application of the intellect or any other faculty of judgment; and, on the other hand, what are considered to be beings that exist truly." ..... page 10 |