Epicureans seek both tranquility and joy.
Emily Austin is professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. She's been studying Epicurus (341-270 BCE), an ancient Greek philosopher who himself lived in remarkably troubled times. She's summarized some of what she's learned in a new book, Living for Pleasure: An Epicurean Guide to Life. She's summarized some of the book in this good beginner's guide to the philosopher's approach to opening doorways to "unalloyed, anxiety-free joys".
"Epicurus readily concedes that we often struggle to pursue pleasure without making a mess of it," she says. "Our failure might even lead us to believe it’s pleasure’s fault. Epicurus, though, thinks we’re doing pleasure wrong. We navigate the landscape of pleasure and pain artlessly and inattentively, sometimes without any sort of plan at all. Epicureanism aims to point us in the right direction, to help us find security and joy, to do pleasure right."
Article: How To Live Like an Epicurean