Lucretius, de Rerum Natura 1.635-644
“Those who thought that fire was the material of the world, and that the sum of things consisted of fire alone, seem to have fallen far from the truth. Of these, Heraclitus was the first general to enter the field – more famous for his obscure delivery among the empty-headed than among the serious Greeks who seek the truth, because stupid people tend to marvel at and love the things which they see hidden under contorted words, and they consider as true the things which can give the ears a pretty little tickling, tinged as they are with a charming sound.”
Quapropter qui materiem rerum esse putarunt
ignem atque ex igni summam consistere solo,
magno opere a vera lapsi ratione videntur.
Heraclitus init quorum dux proelia primus,
clarus <ob> obscuram linguam magis inter inanis
quamde gravis inter Graios, qui vera requirunt;
omnia enim stolidi magis admirantur amantque,
inversis quae sub verbis latitantia cernunt,
veraque constituunt quae belle tangere possunt
auris et lepido quae sunt fucata sonore.
