Democritus Quotes

If thou sustain injustice, console thyself; the true unhappiness is in doing it

Men ask for health in their prayers to the gods: they do not realize that the power to achieve it lies in themselves. Lacking self-control, they perform contrary actions and betray health to their desires.

One will seem to promote virtue better by using encouragement and persuasion of speech than law and necessity. For it is likely that he who is held back from wrongdoing by law will err in secret but that he who is urged to what he should by persuasion will do nothing wrong either in secret or openly. Therefore he who acts rightly from understanding and knowledge proves to be at the same time courageous and right-minded.

Accept nothing pleasant unless it is beneficial.

Nature and teaching are closely related; for teaching reforms a person, and by reforming remakes his nature.

Men achieve cheerfulness by moderation in pleasure and by proportion in their life excess and deficiency are apt to fluctuate and cause great changes in the soul. And souls which change over great intervals are neither stable nor cheerful. So one should set one's mind on what is possible and be content with what one has taking little account of those who are admired and envied and not dwelling on them in thought but one should consider the lives of those who are in distress thinking of their grievous sufferings so that what one has and possesses will seem great and enviable and one will cease to suffer in one's soul through the desire for more.

The first principles of the universe are atoms and empty space; everything else is merely thought to exist.

We know nothing truly about anything, but for each of us opining is a rearrangement of soul atoms.

One man means as much to me as a multitude, and a multitude only as much as one man.

Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold, the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.

To a wise man, the whole earth is open, because the country of a virtuous soul is the entire universe.

If the body were to take the soul to court for the pains and suffering it had endured throughout its life, then if he were to be on the jury for the case he would gladly cast his vote against the soul inasmuch as it had destroyed some parts of the body by negligence or dissipated them by drunkenness, and had ruined and ravaged other parts by its pursuit of pleasures - just as he would blame the careless user if a tool or utensil were in a bad condition.

In verità nulla sappiamo, ché la verità è nell’abisso.

Everywhere man blames nature and fate, yet his fate is mostly but the echo of his character and passions, his mistakes and weaknesses.

Todos los hombres culpan a la naturaleza y al destino, pero su destino es sobre todo el eco de su caracter y de sus pasiones, sus errores y debilidades.