The quotation that comes to mind is:
"Additionally, once the sage has become wise, they will no longer fall back into ignorance but can be exceedingly affected by the emotions (and will feel grief (119)) although this will not be a hindrance in their progress toward wisdom." (117) from Diogenes Laertius
Happy Twentieth!
Speaking of desires, I found this blog post to have some good insights on the subject:
There seems to be something in the air these days: people are discovering the benefits of the Epicurean life, some perhaps through studying Epicurus, and some perhaps by reasoning it out on their own. Not all are presenting a complete worldview as did Epicurus, but it does seem to be a trend that's heading in a good direction.
I think they may misunderstand his position with the "extravagant desire as a surefire happiness-squisher."
They probably haven't read Living for Pleasure yet.... Although I quite like the use of the term "extravagant desires" in that book, this does point out the problem with that description. For now I would give these authors the benefit of the doubt and assume that they're using "extravagant" to describe unnecessary desires.
And yes, it's nice to see that they understand the difference between desires and pleasures 
I can't comment on the home page.... As for how I use the site, I've got the "unread posts" page bookmarked; that's my entry point to everything here.
This article is in this morning's paper and it struck me as really cool for anyone here who's a sci-fi nerd. It also is a great example, for a non-scientist such as me, of the enormous amount of tedious work that can be involved in scientific progress.
UCLA is asking for the public’s help in finding signs of extraterrestrial intelligence
There is a link within the article that leads to the UCLA website where you can participate. Or just look at the task involved, which is interesting conceptually but extremely tedious to do for any length of time.
VS29. Speaking freely in my study of what is natural, I prefer to prophesize about what is good for all people, even if no one will understand me, rather than to accept common opinions and thereby reap the showers of praise that fall so freely from the great mass of men. Saint-Andre translation
All in all, I'd say she made quite a good presentation in defense of Epicurus.
I like where this is going, and it brings to mind the "idealist" interpretation of the gods. I'm curious if any of the articles on that subject mention PD01 or any other PDs that might be relevant.
Quote from Don[82] But mental tranquillity* means being released from all these troubles and cherishing a continual remembrance of the highest and most important truths.
*ἀταραξία ataraxia (literally spelled ataraksia)
This reads to me like a definition.... 
May I posit that the musk ox is actually pursuing pleasure and not tolerating pain out on the tundra? I get this from time spent with Milo the Alaskan Malamute. He prefers spending his time in the snow, in below zero temperatures, in a snowstorm. He'll hang inside with his people and other dogs, but given the choice, he'll go for the snow.
Of course this is no knock on the musk ox. It may even make it more Epicurean! I'm just questioning this particular analogy 
So happiness is something else beyond pleasure.
This seems problematic to me. And it's also the crux of the issue: is happiness something beyond pleasure?
Quote--Both physical and mental pleasures
--Assurance of security in the future (basic necessities and safety)
--Freedom from fear of death and God(s)
--Physical health
Looking at this, I'd say physical health and pleasure aren't necessarily necessary for happiness, but mental pleasures are. Now, that would imply that there's a ranking of pleasures involved in happiness. However, I don't subscribe to a ranking of pleasures but to classifications of desires. This leads me to the thought that happiness is, perhaps, a static mental pleasure.
A happy life can still feel happy even when immediate pleasure isn't occuring, and I think that it really points to "happiness" being mostly an internal story about whether or not we are feeling pleased about the way our life is currently unfolding.
This sounds right, although I would tend to use "state" instead of "story." And this of course leads to the discussion of ataraxia and eudaimonia, and whether they are fancy pleasures which are more important than pleasure, or whether they are subsets of pleasure.
If I understand correctly, Kalosyni 's quote above is related to Don 's description of a background state of happy homeostasis. I think that that's necessary, but not sufficient, for the fullness of pleasure. Dabbling in prudent extravagance can fill the tank in that regard (referring to one of Cassius 's former illustrations.
A: Pleasure
Why: Happiness is a type of pleasure, whereas pleasure isn't necessarily a type of happiness. It seems to me that pleasure has a pretty specific definition in EP, but happiness is less well defined.
"Sum, sentio, cognosco", or something along those lines? The idea here is that we exist, and we work from that basis. No ergo involved. Maybe add "I act" to the end: sum, sentio, cognosco, ago.
(I don't know Latin, so my word choices may be goofy...)
You can have all the shared values in the world and still in the end not "click" with someone. So I would think that aspect of friendship would have to be considered in these discussions too.
That was probably a frequent topic of frank speech back in the Garden!
Quote from DonEmily's consistent emphasis on "extravagant desires aren't bad" is refreshing!!
To further this comment: as I recall, she mentioned that the extravagant desires are where the real work of the philosophy is done. This line of thinking agrees with my thinking that these desires are the "sweet spot" of working with the philosophy, so that makes me happy
There are some "moments," but she generally gets back to clarify them in good fashion.
Emily Austin's interview with The Next Big Idea podcast dropped today. It's a great interview and quite favorable to Epicurus. Rufus (the interviewer) mentions some other authors that he's interviewed on the podcast and that some of us have read, so I was quite pleased that he made the connections. Definitely check it out! 
The Next Big Idea - Wondery | Premium Podcasts
Also on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, etc.
