As If They Were Our Own Handiwork

When We Say That Pleasure Is The End, We Do Not Mean The Pleasure Of The Profligate Or That Which Depends On Physical Enjoyment--as Some Think Who Do Not Understand Our Teachings, Disagree With Them, Or Give Them An Evil Interpretation--but By Pleasure We Mean The State Wherein The Body Is Free From Pain And The Mind From Anxiety.

It Is Impossible To Live A Pleasant Life Without Living Wisely And Honorably And Justly, And It Is Impossible To Live Wisely And Honorably And Justly Without Living Pleasantly. Whenever Any One Of These Is Lacking, When, For Instance, The Man Is Not Able To Live Wisely, Though He Lives Honorably And Justly, It Is Impossible For Him To Live A Pleasant Life.

The Wise Man Neither Rejects Life Nor Fears Death... Just As He Does Not Necessarily Choose The Largest Amount Of Food, But, Rather, The Pleasantest Food, So He Prefers Not The Longest Time, But The Most Pleasant.

Men, Believing In Myths, Will Always Fear Something Terrible, Everlasting Punishment As Certain Or Probable . . . Men Base All These Fears Not On Mature Opinions, But On Irrational Fancies, That They Are More Disturbed By Fear Of The Unknown Than By Facing Facts. Peace Of Mind Lies In Being Delivered From All These Fears.

The Man Least Dependent Upon The Morrow Goes To Meet The Morrow Most Cheerfully.