This is as simple as the man could make it. Pleasure is the guide, and no other.

It is all contained in this one pithy statement from Epicurus.

This is as simple as the man could make it. Pleasure is the guide, and no other. Follow your pleasure – but to do so, you must use sober reasoning. You must determine, for yourself, what course of action will contribute to your maximum pleasure. In my view, this requires great courage. It could mean casting off the strictures of a lifetime and the comfortable structures that spring from them.

(In fact I don’t support casting off strictures or structures at first — start simpler and work your way up to more intense reflection when you have a better grasp of the epicurean way of thinking).

Follow your pleasure — but to do so, you must be honest with yourself. It is not fair to yourself to jump at the first short-sighted pleasure you come across. No! You must consider that short-sighted pleasure and determine, for yourself, if jumping at it will contribute to your maximum pleasure!

It is all contained in this one pithy statement from Epicurus.