Epicurus’ teachings bring release from religious fear, and though the limitations of life may seem bitter, the best medicine for the soul to realize the natural limits of life and make the best use of life while we have it.

In order to make the best use of life we must understand how we interact with the outside world - we must understand that this interaction comes through the movement of parties which are perceived by our senses, such as the “images” that are perceived by our eyes.

We must understand how the senses operate so that we are not fooled by illusions - we must understand illusions and the limits of our senses and correct for them so that our opinions about things are correct.

Illusions and problems that prevent clear sensations (such as clear sight) do not mean that the senses are untrustworthy - it is the task of our minds to understand how the senses operate and process the information they provide correctly.

The man who argues that nothing can be known is a fool who confesses his own ignorance.

The senses do not make conclusions so they do not make mistakes which can be refuted, and that is because any attempted refutation depends for its proof on the senses.

If you cannot explain to yourself something that appears to be an illusion or a contradiction, the thing to do is to accept that you do not understand, or even accept a theory that you know may be wrong, because it is better to admit your ignorance of a matter than to lose confidence in your senses and thereby give up all hope of ever learning the truth.

All reasoning is dependent for its validity on the correctness of the evidence it has received from the senses; if the senses cannot be trusted, reason itself cannot be trusted.

The reasoning process is dormant while we sleep, but the senses can still be active, so we cannot trust the things we think we see or hear while we are asleep, and that means that we should not give credence to dreams or think they are divinely inspired.

The senses were not made for us by gods in order that we can see any more than that our ankles were made for us for walking - these things developed by natural processes and the use of them evolved along with their presence.

Just as when we sleep there are other times when the reasoning judgment does not function, and another such time to be wary of is when we are under the intoxication of romantic/passionate sexual love.

Pleasure is more pure and undiluted by pain when we excercise good judgment about the way we pursue it. It is easier to avoid the pain that comes from certain activities, such as the snares of love, than it is to escape that sort of pain once you are entangled.