How pleasant to know that Epicurus is part of our Grecco-Roman heritage.  The culture of the West owes a great deal to the intellectual ideals of Greece and Rome.  The Epicurean spirit is one of hospitality, of generous invitation.

The host and keeper of this place, where you will find the pleasure of the highest good, will offer you freely cakes of barley and fresh spring water. This garden will not tease your appetite with the dainties of art but satisfy it with the bounties of nature. Will you not be a happy guest?

—Inscription placed at the entrance to the Epicurean garden

This invitation to a simpler life, advocates  satisfaction, rather than stimulation.  Who is not enchanted by stimulation?  It never fails.  One always craves more.  Satisfaction is different altogether.  Why not find satisfaction in the company of a companion animal, a pet cat, or the begonia house plant growing in the winter sun?  Why not count those experiences as a life well lived?

The psychology of stimulation seems markedly different.  I usually want what I can do without, something unneeded.  Desire has a quality of possession.  I must possess the object of my desire.  I feel the gap between myself as subject and the object of my desire.

The search for satisfaction on the other hand seems to have the texture of invitation.  I am invited to enter into the reality of the object of my appreciation, to indwell the object.  The sunlight illuminating the pink begonia blossom conveys the delightful otherness of the plant.  Can we ever know to the extent of possession —the moods and modes of perception of an animal, the pet feline or dog?

And then there is “the swerve.”  Epicurus advocated a early form of atomism as a description of reality.  He asserted that atoms typically move in straight lines, unless they encounter another atom.  Then each will swerve to accommodate the other that is encountered.  The language strikes me as an analogue to quantum mechanics which describes a dance of forces, all interactively relating, at the foundations of matter.  Is there room for freedom there, enough room?  I suppose that all depends on what one means by freedom.

I am happy to conclude this post on a positive note.  One of the iconic rock anthems is the Stone’s tune, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”  The lyric is a fine piece of story telling.  The members of the Rolling Stones certainly must have learned the distinction between desire and satisfaction in their long tenure as one of the most celebrated rock bands.  I love the photos from the 70s when The Stones were in their prime.

Epicurus still lives, and so does Rock and Roll.  I’ve appended the lyrics after the video.

You Can’t Aways Get What You Want

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

No, you can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

We went down to the demonstration
To get your fair share of abuse
Singing, “We’re gonna vent our frustration
If we don’t we’re gonna blow a fifty-amp fuse”

You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was “dead”
I said to him

You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need

You get what you need–yeah, oh baby

I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practiced at the art of deception
Well I could tell by her blood-stained hands

You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

Songwriters
RICHARDS, KEITH / JAGGER, MICK