How should we live life?
Ancient Greek philosophers thought about that quite seriously (I guess they had enough time and fortune to do so...). Some of their answers are as below.
Aristotle said:
We should seek happiness, or eudaimonia.
Happiness in his sense is your overall achievement in life. This is something that can be affected by events outside your control (e.g. if a child falls seriously ill even after your death, it will affect your eudaimonia). To increase our chance of eudaimonia, we should use our power of reason, and develop the right kind of character. Every virtue lies between two extremes (e.g. bravery may be halfway between foolhardiness and cowardice) and people should seek into the middle.
Pyrrho said:
Never trust.
We cannot know what the world is like. That's beyond us, and no one will ever be able to reach the truth. So, forget about that. If we can't know anything for sure, we should suspend all judgement and live our lives in an uncommited way. Every desire that you have suggests that you believe that one thing is better than another. Unhappiness arises from not getting what you want. But you cannot know that anything is better than anything else. So, to be happy you should free yourself from desires and not care about how things turn out. Recognise that nothing matters. That is the right way to live.
Epicurus said:
Live simple.
He thought that the key to life was recognising that we all avoid pain and seek pleasure. That's what drives us. The best way to live, then, was to have a very simple life-style, be kind to those around you, and surround yourself with friends. Don't spend your life working in order to get something that is probably beyond your reach anyway. It's far better to live in a simple way. That way you'll be able to satisfy most of your desires.
Seneca said:
Care only about things you can change.
We are responsible for what we feel and think. Emotions don't simply happen to us. What we feel about a situation or an event is a matter of choice. So, we should only worry about things we can change, because our attitude to what happens is within our control even though what happens often isn't.
Who's way of life do you like?
(from "A Little History of Philosophy" by Nigel Warburton)