Heraclitus was an ancient Greek thinker who had some big ideas about life, change, and the nature of everything. If you’re looking for some deep thoughts from long ago that still make sense in today’s world, Heraclitus quotes are the way to go.
They touch on how everything is always changing and why understanding the world isn’t always easy. Dive into these timeless sayings that have inspired minds for centuries.
He’s often referred to as the “Weeping Philosopher” or the “Obscure.”
This Green philosopher is renowned for his doctrine of change, encapsulated in his most famous saying, “You cannot step into the same river twice.”
We mostly know about Heraclitus’s ideas from small bits of his writing, called Fragments. His main work, “On Nature,” didn’t fully survive over time.
However, later thinkers and philosophers saved these small fragments when they talked about or referenced him in their works.
Heraclitus’s Quotes are deeply based on his teachings and philosophy on change, society, warriors, character, and more.
Top 10 Heraclitus Quotes
- “There is nothing permanent except change.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus quotes - “Everything changes and nothing stands still.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus quotes on change - “Much learning does not teach understanding.” — Heraclitus
quotes from Heraclitus - “The hidden harmony is better than the obvious.” — Heraclitus
- “The eyes are more exact witnesses than the ears.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus philosophy quotes - “Thinking is a sacred disease and sight is deceptive.” — Heraclitus
- “The way up and the way down are one and the same.” — Heraclitus
quotes by Heraclitus - “Justice will overtake fabricators of lies and false witnesses.” — Heraclitus
famous Heraclitus quotes - “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus river quote - “To be evenminded is the greatest virtue. Wisdom is to speak the truth and act in keeping with its nature.” — Heraclitus
Best Quotes By Heraclitus
- “The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts.” — Heraclitus
- “Dogs bark at what they don’t understand.” — Heraclitus
- “How can you hide from what never goes away?” — Heraclitus
- “All things come into being by conflict of opposites.” — Heraclitus
- “What was scattered gathers. What was gathered blows away.” — Heraclitus
- “Hide our ignorance as we will, an evening of wine soon reveals it.” — Heraclitus
- “No one that encounters prosperity does not also encounter danger.” — Heraclitus
- “The soul is undiscovered though explored forever to a depth beyond report.” — Heraclitus
- “I am what libraries and librarians have made me, with little assistance from a professor of Greek and poets.” — Heraclitus
- “To do the same thing over and over again is not only boredom: it is to be controlled by rather than to control what you do.” — Heraclitus
Famous Quotes From Heraclitus
- “A fool is excited by every word.” — Heraclitus
- “Time is a game played beautifully by children.” — Heraclitus
- “Wisdom is the oneness of mind that guides and permeates all things.” — Heraclitus
- “Stupidity is doomed, therefore, to cringe at every syllable of wisdom.” — Heraclitus
- “Whoever cannot seek the unforeseen sees nothing for the known way is an impasse.” — Heraclitus
- “The world is nothing but a great desire to live and a great dissatisfaction with living.” — Heraclitus
- “Even a soul submerged in sleep is hard at work and helps make something of the world.” — Heraclitus
- “History is a child building a sandcastle by the sea, and that child is the whole majesty of man’s power in the world.” — Heraclitus
- “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.” — Heraclitus
- “To get everything you want is not a good thing. Disease makes health seem sweet. Hunger leads to the appreciation of being full-fed. Tiredness creates the enjoyment of resting.” — Heraclitus
Inspirational Heraclitus Quotes
- “The sun is new each day.” — Heraclitus
- “Any day stands equal to the rest.” — Heraclitus
- “Big results require big ambitions.” — Heraclitus
- “Tis not too late to seek a newer world.” — Heraclitus
- “You cannot step into the same river twice.” — Heraclitus
- “Life has the name of life, but in reality it is death.” — Heraclitus
- “One thunderbolt strikes root through everything.” — Heraclitus
- “Everything flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.” — Heraclitus
- “If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.” — Heraclitus
- “If they are Gods, why do you lament them? If you lament them, you must no longer regard them as gods.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus Quotes On War And Society
- “Character is destiny.” — Heraclitus
- “To me one man is worth ten thousand if he is first-rate.” — Heraclitus
- “Deliberate violence is more to be quenched than a fire.” — Heraclitus
- “Without injustices, the name of justice would mean what?” — Heraclitus
- “What are men? Mortal gods. What are gods? Immortal men.” — Heraclitus
- “People ought to fight to keep their law as to defend the city’s walls.” — Heraclitus
- “Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony.” — Heraclitus
- “Even sleepers are workers and collaborators in what goes on in the Universe.” — Heraclitus
- “The awake share a common world, but the asleep turn aside into private worlds.” — Heraclitus
- “We are most nearly ourselves when we achieve the seriousness of the child at play.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus Quotes
- “Men who wish to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details.” — Heraclitus
- “The chain of wedlock is so heavy that it takes two to carry it – and sometimes three.” — Heraclitus
- “To God everything is beautiful, good, and just; humans, however, think some things are unjust and others just.” — Heraclitus
- “Realize that war is common and justice is strife, and that all things come into being and pass away through strife.” — Heraclitus
- “The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become.” — Heraclitus
- “Couples are wholes and not wholes, what agrees disagrees, the concordant is discordant. From all things one and from one all things.” — Heraclitus
- “Men forget where the way leads and what they meet with every day seems strange to them. We should not act and speak like men asleep.” — Heraclitus
- “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.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus Quotes
- “Nature loves to hide.” — Heraclitus
- “Man’s character is his fate.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus quotes Greek - “Change is the only constant.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus quote - “Expect the unexpected, or you won’t find it.” — Heraclitus
- “Man, like a light in the night, is kindled and put out.” —Heraclitus
- “He who hears not me but the logos will say: All is one.” — Heraclitus
- “Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.” — Heraclitus
- “The Cosmos was not made by gods but always was and is eternal fire.” — Heraclitus
- “To fight with desire is hard: whatever it wishes it buys at the price of a soul.” — Heraclitus
Heraclitus of Ephesus - “Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.” — Heraclitus (Famous Warrior Quote)
More About Heraclitus
Heraclitus of Ephesus was an ancient Greek philosopher who lived around 535 – 475 BCE.
Though only fragments of his writings remain, Heraclitus’ influence on subsequent philosophical traditions, particularly the Stoics, has been significant.
His ideas also resonate with many Eastern philosophical traditions, which share similar views on impermanence and the unity of opposites.
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