It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.
— Epicurus (Public Domain)
Here’s the challenge: We cannot always avoid trouble. We can, however, reduce it by simplifying our lives to the greatest possible extent. The allegory of a pallet as opposed to a golden couch and rich table does not imply that we should avoid wealth, merely that we should not let it—or anything else—consume us with worry. We work to become free of fear and anxiety by having a spiritual foundation, and by being true to ourselves. Once we realize that our spirituality is the root of everything in our lives, we become able to free our minds as if we were lying upon Epicurus’s simple pallet.
—Mike Hazell
