Quotes from Democritus

I would rather discover one true cause than gain the kingdom of Persia.

Nature . . . has buried truth deep in the bottom of the sea.

We know nothing in reality; for truth lies in an abyss.

According to convention there is a sweet and a bitter, a hot and a cold, and according to convention, there is an order. In truth, there are atoms and a void.

[I would] rather discover one cause than gain the kingdom of Persia.

It is greed to do all the talking but not to want to listen at all.

Poor mind, from the senses you take your arguments, and then want to defeat them? Your victory is your defeat.

Life unexamined, is not worth living.

Men find happiness neither by means of the body nor through possessions, but through uprightness and wisdom.

Medicine heals diseases of the body, wisdom frees the soul from passions.

My enemy is not the man who wrongs me, but the man who means to wrong me.

You can tell the man who rings true from the man who rings false, not by his deeds alone, but also by his desires.

The animal needing something knows how much it needs, the man does not.

It is hard to fight desire; but to control it is the sign of a reasonable man.

The wrongdoer is more unfortunate than the man wronged.

Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not a man.

The wise man's home is the universe.

Tis hard to fight with anger but the prudent man keeps it under control.

Good breeding in cattle depends on physical health, but in men on a well-formed character.

Men have made an idol of luck as an excuse for their own thoughtlessness.

Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence.

Men will cease to be fools only when they cease to be men.

One great difference between a wise man and a fool is, the former only wishes for what he may possibly obtain; the latter desires impossibilities.

The brave man is not only he who overcomes the enemy, but he who is stronger than pleasures. Some men are masters of cities, but are enslaved to women.