Democritus Quotes
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νόμωι (γάρ φησι) γλυκὺ καὶ νόμωι πικρόν, νόμωι θερμόν, νόμωι ψυχρόν, νόμωι χροιή, ἐτεῆι δὲ ἄτομα καὶ κενόν (Tetralogies of Thrasyllus, 9; Sext. Emp. adv. math. VII 135)
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Those who have a well-ordered character lead also a well-ordered life.
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In fact we do not know anything infallibly, but only that which changes according to the condition of our body and of the influences that reach and impinge upon it.
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Of all things the worst to teach the young is dalliance, for it is this that is the parent of those pleasures from which wickedness springs.
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If one choose the goods of the soul, he chooses the diviner portion; if the goods of the body, the merely mortal.
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δοκεῖ δὲ αὐτῶι τάδε· ἀρχὰς εἶναι τῶν ὅλων ἀτόμους καὶ κενόν, τὰ δ'ἀλλα πάντα νενομίσθαι δοξάζεσθαι. (Diogenes Laërtius, Democritus, Vol. IX, 44)
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The wrongdoer is more unfortunate than the man wronged.
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If thou suffer injustice, console thyself; the true unhappiness is in doing it.
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Men should strive to think much and know little.
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Good breeding in cattle depends on physical health, but in men on a well-formed character.
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By desiring little, a poor man makes himself rich.
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The animal needing something knows how much it needs, the man does not.
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Seek after the good, and with much toil shall ye find it; the evil turns up of itself without your seeking it.
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Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.
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It is greed to do all the talking but not to want to listen at all.
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Making money is not without its value, but nothing is baser than to make it by wrong-doing.
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The pleasures that give most joy are the ones that most rarely come.
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Raising children is an uncertain thing; success is reached only after a life of battle and worry.
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Good means not merely not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.
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The brave man is not only he who overcomes the enemy, but he who is stronger than pleasures. Some men are masters of cities, but are enslaved to women.
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'Tis a grievous thing to be subject to an inferior.
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Coition is a slight attack of apoplexy. For man gushes forth from man, and is separated by being torn apart with a kind of blow.
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This argument too shows that in truth we know nothing about anything, but every man shares the generally prevailing opinion.
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No power and no treasure can outweigh the extension of our knowledge.