--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why, do you not know, then, that the…" description: "\"Why, do you not know, then, that the origin of all human evils, and of baseness, and cowardice, is not death, but rather the fear of death?\" — Epictetus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/epictetus-413_baseness_why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin_1316198.jpg" --- # Why, do you not know, then, that the origin of all human… ![“Why, do you not know, then, that the origin of all human evils, and of baseness, and cowardice, is not death, but rather the fear of death?” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/epictetus-413_baseness_why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin_1316198.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/epictetus-413_baseness_why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin_1316198.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/epictetus-413_baseness_why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin_1316198.jpg) > “Why, do you not know, then, that the origin of all human evils, and of baseness, and cowardice, is not death, but rather the fear of death?” [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human evil stems from fearing death, not death itself; this fear breeds baseness and cowardice. **In simple terms:** Fear of death causes bad behavior. Key Takeaway Confront mortality to reduce fear. Themes ethics psychology existential courage Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - public speaking - leadership - personal growth Key Concepts fear death human nature Questions to Reflect On - How does your fear of death influence actions? - What can reduce this fear? A Different Perspective Fear may be rooted in deeper anxieties beyond death. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Baseness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseness/) [Baseness Cowardice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseness-cowardice-4371812/) [Cowardice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice/) [Cowardice Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice-death-1542344/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-fear/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evils Baseness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evils-baseness-4371811/) [Fear Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-death/) [Fear of death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-of-death/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) ## Related quotes > [My flesh winced, in cowardice, from such a death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/my-flesh-winced-in-cowardice-from-such-a-death/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Fear is far more painful to cowardice than death to true courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/fear-is-far-more-painful-to-cowardice-than-death-to-true-courage/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Why should I fear death? If I am, then death is not. If Death is, then I am not. Why should I fear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/why-should-i-fear-death-if-i-am-then-death-is-not-if-death-is-then-i/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [“Fear not death; fear not having lived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-focke/fear-not-death-fear-not-having-lived/) [Kevin Focke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-focke/) > [“We don't actually fear death, we fear that no one will notice our absence, that we will disappear without a trace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/we-don-t-actually-fear-death-we-fear-that-no-one-will-notice-our/) [t.s. eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [Do what you fear, and the death of fear is certain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-robbins/do-what-you-fear-and-the-death-of-fear-is-certain/) [Anthony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-robbins/) > [i will show you fear in a handful of dust." t.s. eliot we don't actually fear death, we fear that no one will notice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/i-will-show-you-fear-in-a-handful-of-dust-t-s-eliot-we-don-t-actually/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [“Accustom yourself to the belief that death is of no concern to us, since all good and evil lie in sensation and sensation ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/accustom-yourself-to-the-belief-that-death-is-of-no-concern-to-us/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [He sought his former accustomed fear of death and did not find it. "Where is it? What death?" There was no fear because there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-sought-his-former-accustomed-fear-of-death-and-did-not-find-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/why-should-i-fear-death-if-i-am-death-is-not-if-death-is-i-am-not-why/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [“I think it's a mistake to lose one's sense of death, even one's fear of death. Isn't death the boundary we need? Doesn't it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-think-it-s-a-mistake-to-lose-one-s-sense-of-death-even-one-s-fear/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“I don’t fear death, I fear the pieces of my heart could be further shattered and it will still be beating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel-e-ann/i-don-t-fear-death-i-fear-the-pieces-of-my-heart-could-be-further/) [Jewel E. Ann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel-e-ann/) > [The fear of death is the fear of the end of an illusion; so long as the illusion persists so long will the fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christmas-humphreys/the-fear-of-death-is-the-fear-of-the-end-of-an-illusion-so-long-as/) [Christmas Humphreys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christmas-humphreys/) > [ Death is the end of the fear of death. \[...\] To avoid it we must not stop fearing it and so life is fear.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/death-is-the-end-of-the-fear-of-death-to-avoid-it-we-must-not-stop/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) > [“The Fear of Death is far more greater than the Death itself but the fear of the Unknown is the greatest fear of all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-fear-of-death-is-far-more-greater-than-the-death-itself-but-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Epictetus > [“We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. If you would be free, then, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-at-the-mercy-of-whoever-wields-authority-over-the-things-we/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/practice-yourself-for-heaven-s-sake-in-little-things-and-then-proceed/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/do-not-laugh-much-or-often-or-unrestrainedly/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-men-are-unhappy-they-do-not-imagine-they-can-ever-cease-to-be-so/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-not-disturbed-by-what-happens-to-us-but-by-our-thoughts-about/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/don-t-be-prideful-with-any-excellence-that-is-not-your-own/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/you-know-yourself-what-you-are-worth-in-your-own-eyes-and-at-what/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [As a man, casting off worn out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, entereth into ones that are new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/as-a-man-casting-off-worn-out-garments-taketh-new-ones-so-the-dweller/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-considered-wihout-sense-and-foolish/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/for-it-is-not-death-or-pain-that-is-to-be-feared-but-the-fear-of-pain/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [What else can I do, a lame old man, but sing hymns to God? If I were a nightingale, I would do the nightingale's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/what-else-can-i-do-a-lame-old-man-but-sing-hymns-to-god-if-i-were-a/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [People are disturbed not by things, but by the view they take of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/people-are-disturbed-not-by-things-but-by-the-view-they-take-of-them-2/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“Small-minded people blame others. Average people blame themselves. The wise see all blame as foolishness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/small-minded-people-blame-others-average-people-blame-themselves-the/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/all-philosophy-lies-in-two-words-sustain-and-abstain/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) [Explore all 577 Epictetus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) ## More Baseness quotes > [O fools, awake! The rites ye sacred hold Are but a cheat contrived by men of old Who lusted after wealth and gained their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ma-arri/o-fools-awake-the-rites-ye-sacred-hold-are-but-a-cheat-contrived-by/) [Al-Maʿarri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ma-arri/) > [There are only two great currents in the history of mankind: the baseness which makes conservatives and the envy which makes revolutionaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-de-goncourt/there-are-only-two-great-currents-in-the-history-of-mankind-the/) [Edmond de Goncourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-de-goncourt/) > [Nothing is more repugnant to me than brotherly feelings grounded in the common baseness people see in one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/nothing-is-more-repugnant-to-me-than-brotherly-feelings-grounded-in/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [No, no, there must be a limit to the baseness even of publishers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/no-no-there-must-be-a-limit-to-the-baseness-even-of-publishers/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I once did hold it, as our statists do, A baseness to write fair, and labour'd much How to forget that learning; but, sir,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-once-did-hold-it-as-our-statists-do-a-baseness-to-write-fair-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/a-nation-can-survive-its-fools-and-even-the-ambitious-but-it-cannot/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Those who profess contempt for men, and put them on a level with beasts, yet wish to be admired and believed by men, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/those-who-profess-contempt-for-men-and-put-them-on-a-level-with/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [It (the heart) is supposed in popular language, to be the seat sometimes, of courage, sometimes of affection, sometimes of honesty, or baseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/it-the-heart-is-supposed-in-popular-language-to-be-the-seat-sometimes/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/how-many-a-father-have-i-seen-a-sober-man-among-his-boys-whose-youth/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [The motions of men must be such as suggest their dignity or their baseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-motions-of-men-must-be-such-as-suggest-their-dignity-or-their/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [ There is no more evil thing in this world than race prejudice, none at all. \[...\] It justifies and holds together more baseness, cruelty,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/there-is-no-more-evil-thing-in-this-world-than-race-prejudice-none-at/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [When the scale of sensuality bears down that of reason, the baseness of our nature conducts us to most preposterous conclusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-chamberlain/when-the-scale-of-sensuality-bears-down-that-of-reason-the-baseness/) [Roger Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-chamberlain/) > [Advertizing, television and film all wield mighty powers to visually seduce us, while much fine art leaves us indifferent, confused or, at worst, repulsed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-walford/advertizing-television-and-film-all-wield-mighty-powers-to-visually/) [John Walford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-walford/) > [To think is to take a cunning revenge in which we camouflage our baseness and conceal our lower instincts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/to-think-is-to-take-a-cunning-revenge-in-which-we-camouflage-our/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [The tyrant, who in order to hold his power, suppresses every superiority, does away with good men, forbids education and light, controls every movement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-tyrant-who-in-order-to-hold-his-power-suppresses-every/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) [Browse all 58 Baseness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Why, do you not know, then, that the origin of all human evils, and of baseness, and cowardice, is not death, but rather the fear of death?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Epictetus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin-of-all-human-evils-and-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Baseness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin-of-all-human-evils-and-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/epictetus-413_baseness_why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin_1316198.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/epictetus-413_baseness_why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin_1316198.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a9/epictetus-413_baseness_why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin_1316198.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Why, do you not know, then, that the origin of all human evils, and of baseness, and cowardice, is not…” — Epictetus", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Epictetus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Why, do you not know, then,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin-of-all-human-evils-and-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/why-do-you-not-know-then-that-the-origin-of-all-human-evils-and-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```