Full Idea
Impermanent properties do not have the nature of an entire thing, which we call a body when we grasp it in aggregate, nor the nature of permanent accompaniments without which it is not possible to conceive of a body.
Gist of Idea
Bodies have impermanent properties, and permanent ones which define its conceived nature
Source
Epicurus (Letter to Herodotus [c.293 BCE], 70)
Book Reference
Epicurus: 'The Epicurus Reader', ed/tr. Inwood,B. /Gerson,L. [Hackett 1994], p.15
A Reaction
Epicurus doesn't discuss essences, but this seems to commit to the basic Aristotelian idea, that there there are some properties which actually bestow identity, and then others which are optional for that thing. The 'conception' is always mentioned.
Related Ideas
Idea 14044 The perceived accidental properties of bodies cannot be conceived of as independent natures [Epicurus]
Idea 14045 Accidental properties give a body its nature, but are not themselves bodies or parts of bodies [Epicurus]
Idea 14046 A 'body' is a conception of an aggregate, with properties defined by application conditions [Epicurus]