Quotes by Heraclitus

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“ What was scatteredgathers.What was gatheredblows away. “

-Heraclitus-

What was scatteredgathers.What was gatheredblows away.

Stupidity is doomed,therefore, to cringeat every syllableof wisdom.

People ought to fightto keep their lawas to defend the citys walls.

To be evenmindedis the greatest virtue.Wisdom is to speakthe truth and actin keeping with its nature.

Whoever cannot seek the unforeseen sees nothing for the known way is an impasse.

Even a soul submerged in sleepis hard at work and helpsmake something of the world.

Even a soul submerged in sleepis hard at work and helpsmake something of the world.

No man steps in the same river twice.

From out of all the many particulars comes oneness, and out of oneness come all the many particulars.

Even sleepers are workers and collaborators in what goes on in the Universe.

Everything flows, nothing stands still.

Those who love wisdom must investigate many things.

Character is fate.

Nothing endures but change.

Much learning does not teach sense.

The world is a living fire, ever kindling, and being extinguished.

It is impossible to step into the same river twice.

Wisdom is to speak the truth and act in keeping with its nature.

To know oneself is the greatest achievement.

Men forget that the way up and the way down are one and the same.

Fire lives the death of air, and air lives the death of fire; water lives the death of earth, earth the death of water.

The cosmos speaks to us in symbols and signs.

The people must fight for their law as for their city wall.

Nature tends to hide.

The bow's name is life, but its work is death.

The thunderbolt that steers the course of all things.

Eyes are more accurate witnesses than ears.

A fool is excited by every word.

To be evenminded is the greatest virtue.

All things are exchanged for fire and fire for all things, as goods for gold and gold for goods.

The river where you set your foot just now is gone – those waters giving way to this, now this.

The sun is new every day.

What was scattered gathers. What was gathered blows apart.

The unlike is joined together, and from differences results the most beautiful harmony.

To God all things are fair and good and just, but men hold some things wrong and some right.

The unseen design of things is more harmonious than the seen.

We must recognize that war is common and strife is justice.

Thinking is a sacred disease and sight is deceptive.

This world, which is the same for all, no one of gods or men has made, but it always was and is and shall be: an ever-living fire, with measures of it kindling, and measures going out.

It is in changing that we find purpose.

The most beautiful arrangement is a pile of things poured out at random.

All things come into being by conflict of opposites.

It is better to conceal ignorance than to expose it.

Men who wish to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details.

Dogs bark at what they do not know.

We both step and do not step in the same rivers. We are and are not.

Time is a child playing a game of draughts; the kingdom belongs to a child.

All entities come to be in accordance with this Logos.

Eyes are more exact witnesses than ears.

It is harder to fight against pleasure than against anger.

We are most nearly ourselves when we achieve the seriousness of the child at play.

War is the father of all and the king of all.

All things are an interchange for fire, and fire for all things, just like goods for gold and gold for goods.

God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, surfeit and hunger.

Eternity is a child playing, playing checkers; the kingdom belongs to a child.

Out of every one thing there comes a pair of opposites.

The way up and the way down are one and the same.

The waking have one world in common, but the sleeping turn aside each into a world of his own.

Knowledge is not intelligence.

Nature is wont to hide herself.

Expect the unexpected, or you won't find it.

Change alone is unchanging.

The thunderbolt steers all things.

Everything changes and nothing stands still.

The path up and down is one and the same.

All is flux; nothing stays still.

You will not find the boundaries of the soul by traveling in any direction, so deep is the measure of it.

Listening not to me but to the logos, it is wise to agree that all things are one.

Couples are things whole and not whole, what is drawn together and what is drawn apart.

Strife is justice.

If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it; for it is hard to be sought out and difficult.

Eyes and ears are poor witnesses to people if they have uncultured souls.

The world order, an ever-living fire, kindling in measures and being extinguished in measures.

Wisdom is the oneness of mind that guides and permeates all things.

Everything flows and nothing stays.

The one is made up of all things, and all things issue from the one.

War is the father of all and king of all.

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.

Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.

A man's character is his fate.

Big results require big ambitions.

The sun is new each day.

If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day.

There is nothing permanent except change.

Time is a game played beautifully by children.

You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.

Character is destiny.

Much wisdom often goes with fewer words.

Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony.

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.

Much learning does not teach understanding.

Nature loves to hide.

The hidden harmony is better than the obvious.

The only constant in life is change.

Introducing Heraclitus

Heraclitus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Ephesus, known for his doctrine of change being central to the universe. He famously posited that "everything flows" (panta rhei) and that one cannot step into the same river twice, emphasizing the ever-changing nature of existence. Heraclitus also introduced the concept of the unity of opposites, where he believed that conflict and strife are necessary for harmony. His work, though largely fragmented, has had a profound influence on subsequent philosophical thought, particularly in the realms of metaphysics and dialectics.