Vatican Saying 38
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Translation
Analysis
Unlike the Stoics, who elevated suicide to an act of heroism, Epicurus belittles it to an act of small-mindedness. Although Epicurus did not completely forbid suicide as a "sin" (as e.g. Christian doctrine does), he saw very, very few reasons to ever reach that point. The abandoned lover, the ruined merchant, or the defeated politician seeking solace in suicide is thus viewed not as heroic, but as terribly misguided: had they known any better, the first should have not become irrationally infatuated in the first place; the second one should not have craved wealth so eagerly or anxiously; the last one should not have staked his personal happiness on the whim of an unreliable electorate. Their wish to thus violently "extract" themselves from life is hardly noble but rather ridiculous, once viewed from the detached, cool-headed perspective of Epicureanism.
