Epicurean Delights?

Starting today, I am running a series of quotations in my "QOTD" section from Epicurus, he of the delights:

Epicurean: (adjective) 1. Devoted to the pursuit of sensual pleasure, especially to the enjoyment of good food and comfort. 2. Suited to the tastes of an epicure: an epicurean repast. 3. Epicurean: of or relating to Epicurus or Epicureanism. (from Bartleby.com).

I thought he would be a good person to read from, in this time of cold weather and dreary days. We could all use some epicurean delights to lift our spirits.

Epicurus was a philosopher in the Hellenistic period, one of the majors thinkers of that time. He contributed to chemistry with the idea that the atom (an uncuttable bit of matter) was the basic building block of things. He's more noted for his philosophy of pleasure: we can gain knowledge of the world by relying on the senses and the point of all one's actions was to attain pleasure for oneself.

What is less known (or likely known and disregarded) is that this pleasure Epicurus espoused should be found by limiting one's desires, and banishing the fear of the gods and death.

Read more about Epicurus: Epicurus and Epicurean Philosophy.