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
Eyes and ears are poor witnesses to people if they have uncultured souls.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that perception can be deceiving if one's inner character is not refined.
Heraclitus highlights the idea that our ability to judge others is limited by our own inner development. If a person lacks cultural or moral refinement, their observations and interpretations of others may be flawed, leading to a distorted understanding of the world and those around them.
Themes
PerceptionUnderstandingCharacterWisdomSoul
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about judgment and perception during a philosophy class.
More from Heraclitus
All quotes βThinking is a sacred disease and sight is deceptive.
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Things of which there is sight, hearing, apprehension, these I prefer.
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Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.
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For when is death not within our selves? And as Heracleitus says: βLiving 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."
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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
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