5
" Le créateur, ou l´artiste, ne se contente pas de produire un objet utile, mais il investit cet objet de sa subjectivité, de son ressenti personnel: il va incarner dans son oeuvre son 'idea', c´est-à-dire le projet, la vision qu´il porte en lui et dans laquelle d´autres vont se retrouver, car la création artistique, acte gratuit, sans "utilité" réelle, est une activité symbolique qui s´adresse au plus profond de l´être. D´ailleurs, pour la qualifier, nous utilisons le language du coeur et de l´âme: face à une oeuvre d´art nous nous déclarons "émus", "touchés", "bouleversés". Ce n´est pas l´usage que nous pouvons en faire qui nous interpelle mais sa dimension esthétique et symbolique gratuite. "
― Frédéric Lenoir , Petit traité de vie intérieure
20
" Epicurus notes that it is essential to eliminate all pointless fears, starting with the two biggest: fear of the gods, and fear of death. He does not deny the existence of the former (probably out of political caution, since his materialist conception of the world makes the existence of any divinities implausible), but he keeps the gods at a distance, explaining that experience shows that they have no influence on human life. So there is no point in praying to them and being afraid of them, presenting them with all sorts of offerings and sacrifices. Likewise we need to rid ourselves of the idea of the soul’s immortality, as it introduces the fear of a possible punishment after death. Epicurus borrows from Democritus his idea of a reality composed entirely of indivisible atoms, an approach that underpins his own ethical vision. For him the human being, body and soul, is an agglomeration of atoms that dissolve at death. Epicurus explains that the fear of dying stems purely from our imagination, since so long as we are alive, we have no experience of death, and when we die there will be no individual consciousness left to feel the dissolution of the atoms that make up our bodies and our souls. Once "
― Frédéric Lenoir , Happiness: A Philosopher's Guide
