By pleasure, Epicurus said, we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the mind. It is not an unbroken succession of drinkingbouts and of merrymaking, not the satisfaction of lusts, not the enjoyment of the fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the motives of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest disturbances take possession of the soul. Epicurus was no King George IV, nor would he have wanted to be, as it was not particularly pleasurable to be King George. Not only did the mans gluttony cut his life short, but allowing himself everything he wanted turned quite quickly into a daily nightmare. How much fun was Babe Ruth having when they had to rush him to the hospital stuffed sick with food and booze? We dont refrain from excess because its a sin. We are self-disciplined because we want to avoid a hellish existence right her

The body is stupid, you have to understand, and our temperament has to save it from itself. The body wants to eat until it is full . . . but it ends up way past that point. The body wants to drink until it is drunk . . . but we only feel that way when were well beyond drunk. The body wants to be numb . . .

The body wants what it wants now . . . it can deal with the consequences later. We have to be smart and self-controlled and self-aware enough to intervene before that happens. And for [eating more than we should] you can insert just about anything we are prone to take to excess, from drinking to working to having fun to staying up late. As Timotheus, the Athenian statesman, once said after a delightful party at Platos house, Your dinners are enjoyable not only when one is eating them but on the morning after as well! If youre stuffed and uncomfortable afterward, if youre hungover and groggy when you wake up, if youre filled with regret or shame, or you dont even remember what happened the night before, was it really that great in the first place? The Stoics said that this was a perfect metaphor for everything we do. Remember to conduct yourself in life as if at a banquet, Epictetus said. As something being passed around comes

Does it pass you by? Dont stop it. It hasnt yet come? Dont burn in desire for it, but wait until it arrives in front of you. Act this way with children, a spouse, toward position, with wealthone day it will make you worthy of a banquet with the gods.[*] Always remember, Churchill once reassured his wife, that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me. This is a critical test. Dont just think about what a certain pleasure will give, think about what it will take out of you. Think about how what youre chasing is going to age. Think about how youll think about it afterduring the refractory period, during your hangover, when your pants are too tight, when you catch yourself in the mirror months from now and wonder how this happened. Of course, abstinence and restraint are not the same thing. One is about avoidance, the other is about responsibility. Its understanding how to do these things appropriatelyfor you