Quotation
Last reviewed:
“Of all the things wisdom acquires to produce the blessedness of the complete life, by far the greatest is the possession of friendship.”
Epicurus · Epicureanism · Ancient · c. 300 BCE
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is that friendship is the greatest of the things wisdom secures for a happy life, not a pleasant extra on top of safety. A competing reading, which other Epicurean maxims invite, treats friends as instruments of security, valued because they are useful rather than for their own sake. Principal Doctrine 27 is short on purpose, and the school never fully closed the gap. The garden in Athens was built around the practice, not only the sentence.
Did Epicurus really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. One of the Kuriai Doxai preserved by Diogenes Laertius. Close translation of a short doctrinal sentence.
Where it comes from
Principal Doctrines 27
Approximate date: c. 300 BCE.
How to use it
A year planned as targets, with no one you would sit with on a wet Sunday without a reason, is missing what he ranked first. The friend who texts when the train is cancelled counts for more, on this doctrine, than another optimisation. Security that has nobody in it is not the blessedness he describes.
A mindset reading
Independence, for Epicurus, is not isolation. You limit vain desires so that friendship is possible and safe. The habit is to notice when 'I do not need anyone' is really a fear of needing the wrong things, and to separate the two.
Understand the philosophy
The doctrine answers what a complete life still requires once pain and fear are under control. Friendship, philia, is ranked above the other acquisitions of wisdom. The tension is whether it is chosen for the safety it brings or for itself. The strong wording of this maxim is hard to squash into a purely selfish reading.
- love
- happiness
FAQ
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is that friendship is the greatest of the things wisdom secures for a happy life, not a pleasant extra on top of safety. A competing reading, which other Epicurean maxims invite, treats friends as instruments of security, valued because they are useful rather than for their own sake. Principal Doctrine 27 is short on purpose, and the school never fully closed the gap. The garden in Athens was built around the practice, not only the sentence.
Did Epicurus really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. One of the Kuriai Doxai preserved by Diogenes Laertius. Close translation of a short doctrinal sentence.
Which work is it in?
Principal Doctrines 27 Approximate date: c. 300 BCE.