The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it.
-- Epicurus
For more about Epicurus, keep reading....
About the Quote
If it's easy to win at something, we don't appreciate the victory. This is why people get excited when a team usually on the losing end of a lopsided rivalry finally beats its rival. Even Tom Brady lost to teams expected to lose by a large margin. Even American gymnasts finally defeated teams from the USSR and later Russia.
Then there are moments such as The Miracle on Ice. The major attraction at the Winter Olympics is usually the ice hockey tournament. Since the 1950s the USSR dominated amateur ice hockey thanks to its teams receruited from CSKA (Soviet Central Red Army). In an exhibition game weeks before the 1980 Winter Olympics, CSKA defeated the American Olympic ice hockey team composed of college students by double-digits. When they faced off in the semi-final round Team USSR was expected to win handily. Instead, Team USA pulled out the victory. Winning the Gold Medal game versus Team Finland validated the Miracle on Ice victory. To this day mention of this game is made in many major tournaments both amateur and professional.
If a victory doesn't mean much, it didn't require much effort. While it's true that a win is a win, some wins mare more satisfying than others. The more satisfying wins are those which came against all odds.
Some Information about Epicurus
Epicurus was born in Samos, Greece in 341 B.C. He died in Athens, Greece in 270 B.C.
He was a Greek philosopher who founded a school of ethical philosophy whose tennets include simple pleasure, retirement, and friendship. The schools Epicurus had founded lasted in their existing forms from the 4th Century B.C. through the 4th Century A.D.
Epicurus began studying philosophy when he was 14 years old. According to one account of his turn to philosophy, Epicurus was not satisfied with the answer his schoolmaster had given him regarding the concept of chaos as noted in the works of the early Greek poet of philosophy Hesiod. The first master of philosophy under whom Epicurus studied was Pamphilus, a Platonist philosopher from his native island of Samos.
Almost as soon as he turned 14, Epirurus studied under Nausiphanes in the Ionian city of Teos. Nausiphanes himself was a disciple of the naturalitic philosopher Democritus. Epicurus' education under Nausiphanes lasted from 327 B.C. to 324 B.C.
Later in life, Epicurus is credited with the formulation of the atomistic theory. This theory is best known for its application in the physical sciences to describe the composition of all matter. However, Epicurus used atomic theory as the basis for his system of philosophy whose ultimate goal was to reach ethical ends.
-- Source
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