How by getting back to the Garden, back to the soil, we rediscover our true self.

What is the most universal form of human suffering? It's not hunger, nor thirst. It is not any kind of pain of the intrinsicly physical variety.

No. The most common suffering of our kind is in the form of anxiety.

Anxiety is the main obstacle to the happy life. But it cannot be treated by any egocentric means. Because as long as anyone suffers, we all suffer a little bit. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying to you or to themselves. Thus, in order to be happy, we must be concerned for the well being of others.

The Good Life

How ought one approach life? From what stance should we face the world and everything in it? What is our goal?

For Epicureans, the end goal, the summum bonum, the good life, is happiness. Not justice, nor wisdom. Happiness is the first and final purpose of all our philosophy. The good life, the happy life, consists in the presence of pleasure and the absence of pain. But pleasure ought not be confused with the mere gratification of appetites. No, pleasure and absence of pain must be cultivated. The labour of care for the garden of our lives, cultivating the soil from which we ourselves are made - the raw material stuff of the universe.






"How do we care for others?" asked the young boy to his grandmother.
"By caring for ourselves" the old woman replied.
"But," said the boy, "How do we care for ourselves?"
Replied the old woman, "By caring for others, my child."