Heraclitus

“ The waking have one common world, but the sleeping turn aside each into a world of his own.
Fragment 90
(22) All things are an exchange for Fire, and Fire for all things, even as wares for gold and gold for wares. ”

“ For all human laws are nourished by the one divine law, which prevails as far as it wishes, suffices for all things, and yet is something more than they are (114)
82. ”

“ Mortals are immortals and immortals are mortals, the one living the others' death and dying the others' life. ”

“ It is hard to fight against impulsive desire; whatever it wants it will buy at the cost of the soul. ”

“ For even the best of them choose one thing above all others, immortal glory among mortals, while most of them are glutted like beasts. ”

“ A drunken man has to be led by a boy, whom he follows stumbling and not knowing whither he goes, for his soul is moist. (117)
49. It is death to souls to become water, and it is death to water to become earth. Conversely, water comes into existence out of earth, and souls out of water. ”

“ And the Sibyl, with raving lips uttering things mirthless, unbedizened, and unperfumed, reaches over a thousand years with her voice, thanks to the god in her. R. P. 30 a.
Fragment 93
(11) The lord whose is the oracle at Delphoi neither utters nor hides his meaning, but shows it by a sign. ”

“ Although this Logos is eternally valid, yet men are unable to understand it -- not only before hearing it, but even after they have heard it for the first time. That is to say, although all things come to pass in accordance with this Logos, men seem to be quite without any experience of it - at least if they are judged in the light of such words and deeds as I am here setting forth. ”

“ Man kindles a light for himself in the night-time, when he has died but is alive. The sleeper, whose vision has been put out, lights up from the dead; he that is awake lights up from the sleeping. [1]
↑ I adopt the fuller text of Diels here. It is clear that Death, Sleep, Waking correspond to Earth, Water, Air in Herakleitos (cf. fr. 68) . I think, however, that we must take ἅπτεται in the same sense all through the fragment, so I do not translate "is in contact with," as Diels does. Fragment 27
(122) There awaits men when they die such things as they look not for nor dream of. ”

“ The bones connected by joints are at once a unitary whole and not a unitary whole. To be in agreement is to differ; the concordant is the discordant. From out of all the many particulars comes oneness, and out of oneness comes all the many particulars. ”

“ We must know that war is common to all and strife is justice, and that all things come into being and pass away (?) ”

“ Immortals become mortals, mortals become immortals; they live in each other's death and die in each other's life. ”

“ The handsomest ape is ugly compared with humankind; the wisest man appears as an ape when compared with a god --- in wisdom, in beauty, and in all other ways. (82, 83)
105. Man is regarded as childish by a spirit (daemon) , just as a boy is by a man. ”

“ Fragment 56 Men allow themselves to be deceived as Homer was, who yet was wiser than all the Greeks; for some boys killing lice deceived him saying, "What we see and catch we leave behind; what we neither see nor catch we take with us." ”

“ We should let ourselves be guided by what is common to all. Yet, although the Logos is common to all, most men live as if each of them had a private intelligence of his own. (2)
3. Men who love wisdom should acquaint themselves with a great many particulars. (35)
4. Seekers after gold dig up much earth and find little. ”

“ Men do not know how what is at variance agrees with itself. It is an attunement of opposite tensions, [1] like that of the bow and the lyre. ”

“ What is divine escapes men's notice because of their incredulity. ”

“ It is better to conceal ignorance than to expose it. ”

“ The name of the bow is life, but its work is death. (48)
116. The hidden harmony is better than the obvious. (54)
117. People do not understand how that which is at variance with itself agrees with itself. There is a harmony in the bending back, as in the cases of the bow and the lyre. (51)
118. Listening not to me but to the Logos, it is wise to acknowledge that all things are one. (50)
119. Wisdom is one and unique; it is unwilling and yet willing to be called by the name of Zeus. (32)
120. Wisdom is one ---- to know the intelligence by which all things are steered through all things. ”

“ If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it; for it is hard to be sought out and difficult. ”

“ So we must follow the common, [1] yet though my Word is common, the many live as if they had a wisdom of their own. R. P. 44.
↑ Sext. Math. vii. 133, διὸ δεῖ ἕπεσθαι τῷ κοινῷ (so the MSS. ξυνῷ Schleiermacher) . ξυνὸς γὰρ ὁ κοινός. Bywater omits the words, but I think they must belong to Herakleitos. Diels adopts Bekker's suggestion to read διὸ δεῖ ἕπεσθαι τῷ <ξυνῷ, τουτέστι τῷ> κοινῳ. I now think also that, if we understand the term λόγος in the sense explained above (p. 133, n. 1) , there is no reason to doubt the words which follow. Fragment 3 (The sun is the width of a human foot.) ”

“ Most people do not take heed of the things they encounter, nor do they grasp them even when they have learned about them, although they think they do. ”

“ Unless you expect the unexpected you will never find truth, for it is hard to discover and hard to attain. ”

“ The eyes are more exact witnesses than ears. ”

“ God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, satiety But he undergoes transformations, just as (............) ”

“ Fragment 10
(59) Couples are things whole and things not whole, what is drawn together and what is drawn asunder, the harmonious and the discordant. The one is made up of all things, and all things issue from the one. [1]
↑ On fr. 59 see Diels in Berl. Sitzb., 1901, p. 188. The reading συνάψιες seems to be well attested and gives an excellent sense. The alternative reading συλλάψιες is preferred by Hoffmann, Gr. Dial. iii. 240. Fragment 11
(55) Every beast is driven to pasture with blows. ”

“ It is weariness to keep toiling at the same things so that one becomes ruled by them. ”

“ You cannot step twice into the same rivers; ”

“ Even sleepers are workers and collaborators in what goes on in the universe ”

“ Fragment 117
(73) A man, when he gets drunk, is led by a beardless lad, tripping, knowing not where he steps, having his soul moist. R. P. 42.
Fragment 118
(74-76) The dry soul is the wisest and best. [1] R. P. 42.
↑ This fragment is interesting because of the antiquity of the corruptions it has suffered. According to Stephanus, who is followed by Bywater, we should read: Αὔη ψυχὴ σοφωτάτη καὶ ἀρίστη, ξηρή being a mere gloss upon αὔη. When once ξηρή got into the text; αὔη became αὐγή, and we get the sentence, "the dry light is the wisest soul," whence the siccum lumen of Bacon. ”

“ The Ephesians had better go hang themselves, every man of them, and leave their city to be governed by youngsters, for they have banished Hermadorus, the finest man among them, declaring: "Let us not have anyone among us who excels the rest ”

“ Diels has pointed out that καταλαμβάνειν is the old word for "to convict." Fragment 67
(36) God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, surfeit and hunger; but he takes various shapes, just as fire, [1] when it is mingled with spices, is named according to the savour of each. R. P. 39 b.
↑ Reading ὅκωπερ πῦρ for ὅκωσπερ with Diels. Fragment 67a ita vitalis calor a sole procedens omnibus quae vivunt vitam subministrat. ”

“ A man's character is his guardian divinity. ”

“ Diels thinks that the polemic of Parmenides favours παλίντροπος, but see below, p. 164, n. 1, and Chap. IV. p. 174, n. 3. Fragment 52
(79) Time is a child playing draughts, the kingly power is a child's. R. P. 40 a.
Fragment 53
(44) War is the father of all and the king of all; and some he has made gods and some men, some bond and some free. R. P. 34.
Fragment 54
(47) The hidden attunement is better than the open. R. P. 34.
Fragment 55
(13) The things that can be seen, heard, and learned are what I prize the most. ”

“ Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony. ”

“ Eyes are more accurate witnesses than ears. ”

“ The hidden harmony is better than the obvious. ”

“ Doctors cut, burn, and torture the sick, and then demand of them an undeserved fee for such services. ”