• The purpose of life is pleasure. By pleasure, Epicurus did not mean luxury or excessive indulgence, but freedom from bodily pain and disturbance of the soul, through which a person attains tranquility.

• Death marks the end of both the body and the individual soul. Because sensation ends with death, death should not be feared.

• The gods exist in a state of perfect happiness and immortality, but they do not interfere in human affairs or punish human beings.

• The universe as a whole is boundless and eternal, although individual worlds may come into existence and eventually perish.

• Everything in nature is composed of atoms moving and interacting within empty space.

• Friendship, self-sufficiency, moderation, and freedom from unnecessary desires are essential to a happy life.