The collection of luminaries known as the Presocratics are great to quote because their words have already been quoted and excerpted for over 2000 years. This makes our job easy.
But here are some of our favorites: selections of selections.
On Herakles or Achilles?
Xenophanes, Fragment 2 13-14
“It is unjust to judge strength to be better than good wisdom.”
οὐδὲ δίκαιον / προκρίνειν ῥώμην τῆς ἀγαθῆς σοφίης·
A line stolen from the Rocky Horror Picture Show:
Parmenides, fragment 3.7
“Thinking and being are the same thing.”
… τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ νοεῖν ἐστίν τε καὶ εἶναι
Wake Up! Inspiration for Plato?
Heraclitus, Fragment 73
“It is not right to act and speak like men who are sleeping”
οὐ δεῖ ὥσπερ καθεύδοντας ποιεῖν καὶ λέγειν·
Money Corrupts, right?
Democritus, Fragment 50
“A man wholly committed to money can never be just.”
ὁ χρημάτων παντελῶς ἥσσων οὐκ ἄν ποτε εἴη δίκαιος.
David Byrne said something like this:
Thales fr. 20 (Hippolytus, Refutation of all Heresies. 1.1.1)
“Water is the beginning and the end of everything.”
[οὕτος ἔφη] ἀρχὴν τοῦ παντὸς εἶναι καὶ τέλος τὸ ὕδωρ
If you thought money was bad…
Prodicus fr. B7 (Stobaeus 4.20.65)
“Desire when doubled is lust; lust doubled is madness.”
ἐπιθυμίαν μὲν διπλασιασθεῖσαν ἔρωτα εἶναι, ἔρωτα δὲ διπλασιασθέντα μανίαν γίγνεσθαι.
But don’t worry, it is all in your head:
Diogenes F6 (from Simplicius Physics152.21-153.13)
And yet all things live, see and hear though the same thing; and they derive every other part of their mind from that very source.
ὅμως δὲ πάντα τῶι αὐτῶι καὶ ζῆι καὶ ὁρᾶι καὶ ἀκούει, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην νόησιν ἔχει ἀπὸ αὐτοῦ πάντα
Innocent as a babe? That’s what some think:
Ion of Chios, fr. 5a 1-2
“All creatures are born to their parents ignorant
but experience teaches them.”
καὶ μὴν ἅπαντα τίκτεται πρῶτον γοναῖς
ἄϊδρα, πειραθέντα δ’ ἐκδιδάσκεται
But we all have to start somewhere. And then work real hard:
Protagoras fr. B10 (Stobaeus 3.29.80)
“[Protagaras said that] skill is nothing without practice and practice is nothing without skill.”
[Πρωταγόρας ἔλεγε] μηδὲν εἶναι μήτε τέχνην ἄνευ μελέτης μήτε μελέτην ἄνευ τεχνης
καὶ μὴν ἅπαντα τίκτεται πρῶτον γοναῖς
ἄϊδρα, πειραθέντα δ’ ἐκδιδάσκεται
If this wasn’t enough for you, search for some Heraclitus, Democritus, and Parmenides. We love quoting these guys. And then read them again, because:
Critias 9 (Stobaeus, Anthology 3.29.11)
“Men become good more from practice than nature.”
ἐκ μελέτης πλείους ἢ φύσεως ἀγαθοί
Critias was an uncle of Plato
And:
Parmenides, fr. 6.16
“The path of all things goes backwards.”
…πάντων δὲ παλίντροπός ἐστι κέλευθος.
