Cleon hesitated. “I’ve come to learn your secret. How do you live without wealth or fame — yet seem happier than any merchant in the agora?”
He drew a third line and crossed it out. “Fame, limitless wealth, power over others. These are neither natural nor necessary. They are bottomless pits. The more you feed them, the hungrier they grow.”
Epicurus drew three lines in the sand.
I can’t provide a direct PDF of The Art of Happiness (often referring to teachings of Epicurus, or the modern book by Epicurus translated/edited or the one by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler). However, I can offer a short inspired by Epicurus’ philosophy on happiness — summarizing his core ideas in narrative form. The Garden of Enough In ancient Athens, a young student named Cleon grew weary of the city’s noise. Every day, he heard merchants shouting, politicians promising glory, and philosophers debating virtue in cramped, smoky rooms. Everyone seemed to chase the same things: gold, fame, and power. Yet no one he knew was truly happy. epicurus the art of happiness pdf
He drew a second line. “Luxurious food, a larger house, fine clothes. These are natural to want, but not needed for happiness. They often bring more worry than joy.”
Cleon frowned. “So you say I should want nothing?”
Epicurus added one more thing: “We do not fear the gods — for the gods, if they exist, are too blissful to care about our petty worries. And we do not fear death — for where death is, we are not. Where we are, death is not. So why waste a single moment on fear?” Cleon hesitated
Epicurus smiled and handed him a piece of bread. “Let me tell you what I have learned, not from books, but from watching life.”
In the morning, he asked to stay.
That night, Cleon slept on a straw mat in the garden, under the stars. He dreamed not of gold or glory, but of figs and friendly voices. “Fame, limitless wealth, power over others
He plucked a ripe fig from a nearby tree. “People believe happiness requires endless money, powerful friends, and exotic pleasures. But watch a child with a fig — pure joy needs no gold. The problem isn’t pleasure itself. The problem is empty desires.”
Cleon traveled the dusty road to the garden. He expected marble columns and lavish fountains — but found only a small vegetable patch, a few olive trees, and a low stone house with an open courtyard. A group of men and women, young and old, sat together on simple benches, sharing bread and figs. They spoke softly, laughed often, and seemed utterly at peace.
“No,” Epicurus said gently. “I say: want what is enough. ”
He gestured to his friends in the courtyard. “See these people? We share our meals, our work, our thoughts. Friendship is the greatest wisdom for happiness — more than any medicine or fortune. A true friend multiplies joy and divides sorrow.”