Book 5, Chapter 33

“You see, I imagine, how Epicurus divided desires into classes—not perhaps with great precision, but usefully all the same:

93 “Some are natural and necessary, some natural but not necessary, and some neither. Necessary desires can be satisfied with next to nothing, for nature’s wealth is easily obtained. The second class of desires, he thinks, is neither difficult to satisfy nor difficult to forgo. The third class, being wholly empty, and having no connection not only with necessity but even with nature, he thought should be rooted out entirely.

94 “The Epicureans discuss this subject at length, and belittle one by one the pleasures whose general kinds they do not despise, though they do not seek them in abundance. For even the sexual pleasures, about which they have so much to say, they describe as easy, common, and ready to hand. If nature requires them, they think the measure should be beauty, age, and physique, not birth, station, or rank; and they hold that abstaining from them is not at all difficult if health or duty or reputation requires it. In general, this kind of pleasure is desirable if it does no harm, but it never does any good.

95 “His whole teaching about pleasure is that pleasure in itself, simply because it is pleasure, is always desirable and to be sought; and by the same reasoning pain, simply because it is pain, is always to be avoided. The wise man will therefore make this reckoning: he will shun a pleasure if it is going to produce greater pain, and accept a pain that produces greater pleasure. All pleasant experiences, though judged by bodily sensation, are nevertheless referred to the mind.

96 “Accordingly, the body enjoys pleasure only as long as it feels the pleasure present, whereas the mind both perceives present pleasure along with the body, foresees it as it approaches, and does not let past pleasure slip away. Thus the wise man will always have a continuous, unbroken succession of pleasures, since anticipation of pleasures hoped for is joined to the memory of those already enjoyed.”

“You see, I believe, how Epicurus divided the kinds of desire. Perhaps the division isn’t very precise, but it’s useful.

93 “Some are natural and necessary; some natural but not necessary; and some neither. The necessary ones can be satisfied with next to nothing, because the riches nature needs are easy to get. As for the second kind of desire, he thinks it’s neither hard to satisfy nor hard to do without. The third kind he thought should be thrown out altogether: they’re completely empty and have no connection with necessity or even with nature.

94 “The Epicureans discuss this subject at length. They play down each individual pleasure, even though they don’t dismiss the general kinds of pleasure involved; still, they don’t seek an abundance of them. They say sexual pleasures, too, which they talk a great deal about, are easy, common, and readily available. If nature requires them, they think we should judge them not by birth, position, or rank but by looks, age, and figure. They think it’s not at all difficult to abstain from them if health, duty, or reputation demands it. Overall, this kind of pleasure is desirable if it does no harm, but it never does any good.

95 “His teaching on pleasure as a whole is that pleasure itself, simply because it’s pleasure, should always be wanted and pursued. By the same reasoning, pain, simply because it’s pain, should always be avoided. So a wise person will use this balancing test: avoid even a pleasure if it will bring about greater pain, and accept pain if it will bring about greater pleasure. And although bodily sensation is the judge of everything pleasant, all of it is referred to the mind.

96 “That means the body enjoys itself only as long as it feels a pleasure that’s present. The mind both takes in the present pleasure along with the body and looks ahead to the pleasure that’s coming. Nor does it let past pleasure slip away. So a wise person will always have an unbroken, connected sequence of pleasures: the anticipation of pleasures hoped for will join with the memory of pleasures already experienced.”