Heraclitus was a
Greek philosopher from
Ephesus. He was an Ephesian noble, and had a sovereign contempt for all of
mankind. In his latter years, after his
government moved away from
aristocracy and towards
democracy, he retired to a secluded country estate and wrote a philosophical treatise, which he left at the temple of
Artemis under the instructions that it should not be published until after his
death. This treatise was entitled “On Nature”, and is the oldest monument of Greek
prose.
He believed that as fire is the primary form of reality, the process of combustion is the key both to human life and to that of the world. It is a process that never rests, because a flame must always be fed by fresh fuel, and is always turning into vapor or smoke. The steadiness of the flame depends on the constancy of the “measures” of fire burned and the “measures” of fire extinguished in smoke. He believed that everything is in this constant state of flux, and that nothing, not even the gods themselves, will escape final destruction.
Quotes:
“The way up and the way down <are> one and the same.”
“You cannot step twice into the same river.”