A "Daily Epicurean"?

    A belated Merry Christmas to everyone!


    I'm unable to be as active as i would like due to a very hectic schedule, but I still try to pop in from time to time to catch up on the latest developments and discussions.


    While preparing for the New Year, I came across my copy of The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. I really enjoyed the bite sized approach and almost meditative quality of the writing, with something from Stoicism to reflect on daily.


    This got me to wondering, is there anything of the sort for Epicureanism?


    One could say, choose from one of the sources on here or even further break that down into singular quotes and pieces to reflect on for the day, and I believe many of us have. But is there an officially published book such as this or similar however?


    May your New Year be filled with pleasure!

    A_Gardner , I've wanted to do exactly that for a couple years now. I even tried to compile 366 individual quotes. It wasn't easy. :) I found myself leaning on "contemporary" Epicurean themed writings, etc.

    This might actually be a good cooperative project to come up with 366 suitable quotes.

    Yes it would, with the goal of *not* relying on quotes outside the "canonical" texts. I am pretty sure especially if we did it by collaboration that that would be very doable, and the main question would be what organization, if any, to give to it.

    40 Principal Doctrines

    ~60 unique Vatican Sayings

    Epicurus: Fragments - translation


    Attalus's site lists Usener's 607 citations but I'm not sure how many of those would work.


    Definitely agree with Godfrey that Lucretius should be represented. I would add quotes from the works of Philodemus as well as Hermarchus and Metrodorus where those are extant. It might be nice to add the classical mention of Themista even though we don't have her writings.


    Just thinking off the top of my head here.

    You guys are funny :)



    By the time we combine DL with Lucretius and with Torquatus and with Oinoanda and with Seneca's Epicurean quotes and with Plutarch amd Philodemus we should be looking at two or three years! :)

    I'm loving the potential I'm seeing in this thread! So while there may not be such a book currently, there is most certainly the material for one, or even several.


    If such a project does begin to manifest, please let me know. I hope to be less of a stranger this year and this sounds like a project to contribute towards.

    It seems likely that this project would lend itself toward setting up a Google Doc (where multiple shared editing is easier) and the next issue would be that of setting up a format.


    Just as a very quick place to brainstorm:


    The Daily Epicurean
    January February March April May June July August September October November December
    docs.google.com


    (this is currently set to anyone with the link can comment, but if we actually get started then those who really want to work on it can be added as full editors)

    It might be better to set it up by sources (Pads, letters, DRN &c) instead of months, at least for the collecting of quotations. Then once there are 365 or more they could be sorted into months. This should make it easier to avoid duplicates.


    Also, would this need to be older sources that are out of copyright? Newer translations might be more relatable as long as using them doesn't create copyright issues.

    Quote from Godfrey

    It might be better to set it up by sources (Pads, letters, DRN &c) instead of months, at least for the collecting of quotations. Then once there are 365 or more they could be sorted into months. This should make it easier to avoid duplicates.

    Agreed.


    Quote from Godfrey

    Also, would this need to be older sources that are out of copyright? Newer translations might be more relatable as long as using them doesn't create copyright issues.

    Public domain (1926 and older) would be best to avoid any unnecessary entanglements, but I think we could make a fair use argument for in copyright works for educational purposes as long as we weren't selling the "calendar." Once there's an economic angle, then it gets tricky.

    Years ago I had the book of the Daily Stoic. After a few weeks, I stopped using it because the topics on that day don't match what was happening in my life. A ‘daily epicurean’ is a good idea, but I would then bundle the topics around themes. This way it becomes a reference book that you can use when something happens in your life. I am thinking of themes such as spring, pleasure, friends, the death of a loved one, romantic love, coincidence, the universe. If something happens about the theme of the universe (James Webb) you can read it. Even if it happens at a different time of the year.

    Googel translate.