Epicurus: “Death is nothing to us:…”

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Letter to Menoeceus and files it under Epicureanism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Epicurus

Epicurus (341–270 BCE) founded the Garden school in Athens, teaching atomist physics and a therapy of desire aimed at ataraxia. He admitted women and slaves as students and wrote extensively; most works are lost, leaving letters and maxims plus Lucretius’s later poem.

Interpretation

Epicurus is arguing that the fear of death is a mistake about what death is, not a failure of courage. His reasoning is that harm requires a subject who can experience it: once the organism has dissolved there is no one left for death to happen to. So the terror people feel is about anticipation, not about death itself. The point is therapeutic — he wants to remove a fear that he thinks ruins a life without any corresponding benefit.

Why it matters

The argument is more limited than it sounds: it addresses fear of being dead, not fear of dying, and not the grief of those left behind. Used precisely, it removes one specific dread and leaves the others intact.

Concepts in this quote

Death: Philosophy quotes about death confront mortality, fear, legacy, and what a finite life can mean.
Wisdom: Wisdom is practical insight under uncertainty: knowing what matters, what one does not know, and how to act without false certainty.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Epicurus. (n.d.). Death is nothing to us: for what has been dissolved has no sensation, and what has no sensation is nothing to us. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0019

MLA: Epicurus. “Death is nothing to us: for what has….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0019.

Chicago: Epicurus. “Death is nothing to us: for what has….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0019.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “Death is nothing to us: for what has…”?

The passage is attributed to Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus. The archive attributes this English wording to Letter to Menoeceus and files it under Epicureanism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Epicurus mean by death?

Some argue that death is nothing to us; others that mortality intensifies value; still others that grief and remembrance are ethical tasks. The theme sits between metaphysics and consolation. This passage enters that discussion through death, wisdom.