I am also a swine of the herd of Epicurus; I, too, wax eloquent over
this ancient philosopher, who conversed with his pupils in his garden.
The very epithet of Horace, upon detaching himself from the Epicureans,
"_Epicuri de grege porcum_," is full of charm.
All noble minds have hymned Epicurus. "Hail Epicurus, thou honour of
Greece!" Lucretius exclaims in the third book of his poem.
"I have sought to avenge Epicurus, that truly holy philosopher, that
divine genius," Lucian tells us in his _Alexander, or the False
Prophet_. Lange, in his _History of Materialism_, sets down
Epicurus as a disciple and imitator of Democritus.
I am not a man of sufficient classical culture to be able to form an
authoritative opinion of the merits of Epicurus as a philosopher. All my
knowledge of him, as well as of the other ancient philosophers, is
derived from the book of Diogenes Laertius.
Concerning Epicurus, I have read Bayle's magnificent article in his
_Historical and Critical Dictionary_, and Gassendi's work, _De
Vita et Moribus Epicuri_. With this equipment, I have become one of
the disciples of the master.
Scholars may say that I have no right to enrol myself as one of the
disciples of Epicurus, but when I think of myself, spontaneously there
comes to my mind the grotesque epithet which Horace applied to the
Epicureans in his _Epistles_, a characterization which for my part
I accept and regard as an honour: "Swine of the herd of Epicurus,
_Epicuri de grege porcum_."