Epicurus, who argued that we need very little to be happy and should strive to reduce our desires as much as possible. He thought we should satisfy our natural and necessary desires like food and water. But we should not strive to satisfy those which are unnatural or unnecessary, like extravagant foods, sex, power, or Instagram followers (his words, not mine).5 It is less extreme than the Buddha’s suggestion, and may strike us as more realistic, and we see this minimalistic approach to desire in countless other thinkers.
