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.
The people must fight for their laws as for their walls.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of defending oneβs rights and laws just as one would defend their physical space.
Heraclitus draws a powerful analogy between the defense of one's laws and the defense of one's physical territory. He suggests that just as walls protect our homes and provide safety, laws serve as essential safeguards for our rights and society. The quote implies that individuals have a duty to actively engage in the protection and establishment of their legal rights, highlighting the connection between civic responsibility and the preservation of freedom and order within the community.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for civil rights, one might say this quote to inspire action.
More from Heraclitus
All quotes βThinking is a sacred disease and sight is deceptive.
Things of which there is sight, hearing, apprehension, these I prefer.
Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.
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."
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.
Similar quotes
It is remarkable, that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society. The thoughts alone suffice them, without investing itself in the flesh and blood of action.
I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is inprobably biased toward the consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed. And who am I, living in the middle of history, to tell the universe that it-or my observation of it-is temporary?
According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.
The rain that fell on the city runs down the dark gutters and empties into the sea without even soaking the ground
The devil's most devilish when respectable.
A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but, one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.