Epicurus on Simple Pleasures
"If you wish to be rich, do not add to your money, but subtract from your desires." — Epicurus, breaking the rules of every self-help list before there were lists.
Epicurus on Simple Pleasures, public domain
The riches no banker can steal.
Epicurus, in his Letter to Menoeceus (section 130), says: «εἰ βούλει πλούσιος εἶναι, οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸ πλοῦτος ἐπίθου, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ τὸ ἐπιθυμίας ἀφελέσθαι» — «If you wish to be rich, do not add to your money, but subtract from your desires.» This wasn’t just advice. It was a battle plan against anxiety.
Meaning: Enough is a feast.
Epicurus saw people chasing more and never catching enough. He taught that the happiest life was simple: bread, water, friends, peace of mind. Wealth isn’t in what you own — it’s in wanting less. Every craving you drop is a gold coin kept.
Picnics, not orgies.
Epicurus ran a garden school in Athens. He thought philosophy was best served with cheese, cheap wine, and laughter with friends — and that yearning for luxury was the surest way to ruin. The ad industry would hate him today.
Epicurus didn’t mean monk-like austerity. He meant learning what’s enough — that deliberate simplicity is the only reliable wealth.
