Heraclitus Quotes
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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.
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Nature is wont to hide herself.
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There is nothing permanent except change. Nothing is permanent except change. The only constant is change. Change is the only constant. Change alone is unchanging.
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It is wise to listen, not to me but to the Word, and to confess that all things are one.
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There is a stability in the Universe because of the orderly and balanced process of change, the same measure coming out as going in, as if reality were a huge fire that inhaled and exhaled equal amounts.
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Men who are lovers of wisdom [i.e., philosophers] must be inquirers into many things.
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He who does not expect will not find out the unexpected, for it is trackless and unexplored.
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Religion is a disease, but it is a noble disease.
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People ought to fight to keep their law as to defend the city s walls.
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Even a soul submerged in sleep is hard at work and helps make something of the world.
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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.
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Nature is accustomed to hide itself.
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The outcomes are in incredible need more prominent desire.
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War is the father and king of all: some he has made gods, and some men; some slaves and some free.
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Many who have learned from Hesiod the countless names of gods and monsters never understand that night and day are one.
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The only constant is change.
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Of the Logos which is as I describe it men always prove to be uncomprehending, both before they have heard it and when once they have heard it. For although all things happen according to this Logos, they [men] are like people of no experience, even when they experience such words and deeds as I explain, when I distinguish each thing according to its constitution and declare how it is; but the rest of men fail to notice what they do after they wake up just as they forget what they do when asleep.
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The results are in great need greater ambition.
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Unless you expect the unexpected you will never find it, for it is hard to discover and hard to attain.
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If it were not for injustice, men would not know justice.
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It is hard to contend against one's heart's desire; for whatever it wishes to have it buys at the cost of soul.
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We circle in the night and we are devoured by fire.
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I see nothing but Becoming. Be not deceived! It is the fault of your limited outlook and not the fault of the essence of things if you believe that you see firm land anywhere in the ocean of Becoming and Passing. You need names for things, just as if they had a rigid permanence, but the very river in which you bathe a second time is no longer the same one which you entered before.
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It is by disease that health is pleasant; by evil that good is pleasant; by hunger, satiety; by weariness, rest.