Heraclitus
Heraclitus
Heraclitus of Ephesuswas a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Asia Minor. He was of distinguished parentage. Little is known about his early life and education, but he regarded himself as self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom. From the lonely life he led, and still more from the apparently riddled and allegedly paradoxical nature of his philosophy and his stress upon the needless unconsciousness of humankind, he was called "The Obscure"...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionPhilosopher
wise wisdom men
Abundance of knowledge does not teach men to be wise.
peace harmony discord
Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony.
cutting doctors sick
Doctors cut, burn, and torture the sick, and then demand of them an undeserved fee for such services.
children men sea
History is a child building a sand-castle by the sea, and that child is the whole majesty of man's power in the world.
wine ignorance evening
Hide our ignorance as we will, an evening of wine soon reveals it.
inspirational all-things
All things come out of the one, and the one out of all things.
opposites together sound
All things are in flux; the flux is subject to a unifying measure or rational principle. This principle (logos, the hidden harmony behind all change) bound opposites together in a unified tension, which is like that of a lyre, where a stable harmonious sound emerges from the tension of the opposing forces that arise from the bow bound together by the string.
men firsts rate
To me one man is worth ten thousand if he is first-rate.
change flux endure
Nothing endures but change. There is nothing permanent except change. All is flux, nothing stays still.
men eggs earth
Man is on earth as in an egg.
life men fire
This universe, which is the same for all, has not been made by any god or man, but it always has been, is, and will be an ever-living fire, kindling itself by regular measures and going out by regular measures.
moving moving-forward flow
Everything flows, nothing stays still.
night names monsters
Many who have learned from Hesiod the countless names of gods and monsters never understand that night and day are one
soul may boundaries
You may travel far and wide but never will you find the boundaries of the soul.