Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.
HeraclitusRead
The Cosmos was not made by gods but always was and is eternal fire.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The cosmos is a timeless entity, not created by divine beings but is a manifestation of eternal processes.
Heraclitus suggests that the universe, or cosmos, is not a product of gods or specific creation events but rather a continuous existence characterized by change and transformation, symbolized here as 'eternal fire.' This reflects his broader philosophical view of the constant state of flux and the unity of opposites in nature, emphasizing that what is real is always in a state of becoming rather than static being.
Themes
CosmosEternalChangePhilosophyFire
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about ancient philosophy, I would reference this quote to discuss views on the nature of the universe.
More from Heraclitus
All quotes →Thinking is a sacred disease and sight is deceptive.
HeraclitusRead
Things of which there is sight, hearing, apprehension, these I prefer.
HeraclitusRead
Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.
HeraclitusRead
For when is death not within our selves? And as Heracleitus says: “Living and dead are the same, and so are awake and asleep, young and old. The former when shifted are the latter, and again the latter when shifted are the former."
HeraclitusRead
Whosoever wishes to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details. Knowledge is not intelligence. In searching for the truth be ready for the unexpected. Change alone is unchanging. The same road goes both up and down. The beginning of a circle is also its end. Not I, but the world says it: all is one. And yet everything comes in season.
HeraclitusRead
Similar quotes
When [men] go to war, what they want is to impose on their enemies the victor's will and call it peace.
Saint AugustineRead
Death never takes the wise man by surprise, he is always ready to go.
Jean De La FontaineRead
It takes two to make a murder. There are born victims, born to have their throats cut, as the cut-throats are born to be hanged.
Aldous HuxleyRead
Obscurity and a competence—that is the life that is best worth living.
Mark TwainRead
Death is staring too long into the burning sun and the relief of entering a cool, dark room.
Elisabeth Kubler-RossRead
I've always thought if we don't want to enforce laws on the books, we should remove them from the books. But when you have laws, you breed contempt if you don't enforce them.
Michael BloombergRead