Travels with Epicurus
Daniel Klein
Penguin Paperback, 164 pages
"It is not the young man who should be considered fortunate but the old man who has lived well, because the young man in his prime wanders much by chance, vacillating in his beliefs, while the old man has docked in the harbor, having safeguarded his true happiness." -Epicurus
"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance." -Epicurus
He's at the best seat in the terrace of Greek taverna in Hydra. He's friends with the owner, he takes an olive-wood cane whenever he goes. In his ear is a sprig of lavender that he "with considerable effort" picked up on the way. He sniffs the lavender during lulls in his conversation.
I already got my money's worth with the opening quote and first paragraph. I scored this one from an online store, pre-loved and with the condition it's in, either the previous owner never read it or she takes care of her books with an admirable meticulousness.
Klein writes that this is his personal quest to figure out the best way to live this stage of his life. Perhaps it's his subtle way of saying, I'm having such an awesome time in my seventies. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a travel book that is garnished with some Philosophy. I'd probably never travel to Hydra, so this experience is in a way, transcendental.
It was though-provoking enough to have me re-think my own college thesis. I should have done something along the lines of "Travelling with Nietzsche in Manila." An exposition of Nietzschean themes in a Philippine setting. Rizal vs Bonifacio as the Ubermensch, the herd mentality of religions in my country, the Will to Power in Philippine politics. But I have no such yearnings of writing that now. No one would read it. If I were in college, my adviser would at least be required to read it.
I'm not an old man, I'm not even certain that I will be, but I do have a few joys docked in my harbor. Reading this book, feeling like an old man sometimes, never have I loved life so much more.
