Democritus Quotes

Greek philosopher (c. 460–c. 370 BC)

Democritus (c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. He is popularly known as "the laughing philosopher" for advocating a cheerful outlook, and for his rhetorical use of irony and ridicule. A pupil of Leucippus, he was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher who formulated an atomic theory of the universe. Of his voluminous writings, only a few fragments of his ethical theory remain, with descriptions by other writers of his atomic theory.

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Native Name: Δημόκριτος

Alternative Names: Democritus of Abdera • Laughing Philosopher • Demokritos

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The man who is fortunate in his choice of son-in-law gains a son; the man unfortunate in his choice loses his daughter also.

By convention is sweet, by convention is bitter, by convention hot, by convention colour, but by verity atoms and void

(Democritus said he would rather discover a single demonstration than win the throne of Persia.)

δοκεῖ δὲ αὐτῶι τάδε· ἀρχὰς εἶναι τῶν ὅλων ἀτόμους καὶ κενόν, τὰ δ'ἀλλα πάντα νενομίσθαι [δοξάζεσθαι]. (Diogenes Laërtius, Democritus, Vol. IX, 44)

Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not a man.

Neither art nor wisdom may be attained without learning.

Throw moderation to the winds, and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains.

Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence.

It is better to correct your own faults than those of another.