Vatican Saying 54
From Epicurus Wiki
<<Prev | Vatican Sayings | Next>>
Translation
Analysis
An air-tight argument by analogy, alluding to Epicurus' fundamental belief that the effectiveness of philosophy ought to be measured according to its quasi-medicinal contribution to our well-being: it is, of course, worthless to merely think that we are in good health; we may be quite ill and not know it, or fully understand it. Far more valuable is to be in fact healthy.
Similarly, there is no value in merely pretending to practice philosophy. (Here, Epicurus may have been making an oblique attack on some particular person or group.) What really matters is to truly practice philosophy-- by rather transparent implication, the kind of philosophy that is analogous to medicine, i.e. Epicureanism.
