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The impacts of the philosophy are many and, in many ways, Epicurus held many a variety of thoughts that have turned out to at least have at least some truthstruth, despite his inability to fully observe them. For instance, his ideas that the universe is infinite are more realistic than philosophers who had a very narrow idea of where the universe and its extent liescan be found.<ref>For more on Epicurus' ideas of the universe, see: DeWitt, Norman Wentworth. 1954. St. Paul and Epicurus. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pg. 13.</ref> He also believed no truth should be accepted as given without some form of proof, an idea that is now foundational to modern science. He also believed His belief that life and all matters must have basic building blocks, a are akin to our modern concept of atoms that was only proven in the 19th century. A key development that Epicurus indicated in his writings is the concept of divorcing the pursuit of knowledge from religious pursuits, something that became popular by the RenascenceRenaissance, as thinkers from that era began to realize the importance of separating their work from religious zeal that may have hindered some advances in knowledge. <ref>For more on Epicurus' influence on later thinkers and scientists, see: Wyatt, Michael, ed. 2014. The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Renaissance. Cambridge Companions to Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pg. 272.</ref> A key example is Galileo’s advocacy that the Earth was not the center of the universe, whereas the Catholic church at the time held the belief the Earth was the center of the universe.

While Epicurus’ ideas in science proved to be influential to later generations and modern science, his philosophy on happiness underwent different understanding in various periods. While Although his teachings on happiness were often conflated with later understanding of hedonism, later thinkers began to see the practicality of his philosophy on pleasure as one that avoids pain and pursues simple pleasures and as it avoids indulgence. Some impacts of this philosophy include what is now called ethical hedonism, where measured pleasure is taught and pursued as part of mental health treatment to addiction and other problems faced by patients.<ref>For more on ethical hedonism, see: Ford, Gary George. 2006. Ethical Reasoning for Mental Health Professionals. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications, pg. 54. </ref> In effect, the Epicurean philosophy is still alive and well in our society and not in a way that simply advocates unbridled pursuit of pleasure.