Heraclitus Quotes

Greek philosopher (late 6th/early 5th-century BC)

Heraclitus of Ephesus (Ἡράκλειτος, Herakleitos; c. 535 BC – 475 BC) was a Greek philosopher, known for his doctrine of change being central to the universe, and for establishing the term Logos (λόγος) in Western philosophy as meaning both the source and fundamental order of the Cosmos.

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Native Name: Ἡράκλειτος ὁ Ἐφέσιος

Alternative Names: Heraclitus of Ephesus • Weeping Philosopher

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All things are produced by strife.

χαλεπώτερον ἡδονῇ μάχεσθαι ἢ θυμῷ

We must realize that war is universal and strife is justice, and that all things come into the world and pass away through strife.

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.

Other men are unaware of what they do when they are awake just as they are forgetful of what they do when they are asleep.

It is necessary to understand that war is common, strife is customary, and all things happen because of strife and necessity.

Asses prefer garbage to gold.

Εάν δεν αναμένετε το απροσδόκητο, δεν θα το αναγνωρίσετε όταν φτάσει.

Time is a child playing with droughts. The lordship is to the child.

Meras creencias lo que el más acreditado conoce y custodia

All things are produced through strife.

#* A very free translation, as quoted in Contemporary Literature in Translation (1976), p. 21

Though wisdom is common, yet the many live as if they had a wisdom of their own.

Fire lives in the death of earth, air lives in the death of fire, water lives in the death of air, and earth in the death of water.

"Gustavo Solivellas dice: "Nuestra envidia siempre dura más que la felicidad de quien envidiamos" (Heráclito)"