Single Idea 1839

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 3. Pleasure / b. Types of pleasure]

Full Idea

The pains of the soul are worst, for the flesh is only sensible of present affliction, but the soul feels the past, present and future.

Gist of Idea

Pains of the soul are worse than pains of the body, because it feels the past and future

Source

report of Epicurus (fragments/reports [c.289 BCE]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 10.29

Book Reference

Diogenes Laertius: 'Diogenes Laertius', ed/tr. Yonge,C.D. [Henry G. Bohn 1853], p.473


A Reaction

I don't think feeling extended across time is very relevant. What matters is that pains of the soul usually endure far longer than physical suffering.