Democritus Quotes & Sayings

These differences, they say, are three: shape, arrangement, and position; because they hold that what is differs only in contour, inter-contact, inclination. — Democritus

I am the most travelled of all my contemporaries; I have extended my field of enquiry wider than anybody else, I have seen more countries and climes, and have heard more speeches of learned men. No one has surpassed me in the composition of lines, according to demonstration, not even the Egyptian knotters of ropes, or geometers. — Democritus

Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion. — Democritus

Disease of the home and of the life comes about in the same way as that of the body. — Democritus

One will seem to promote virtue better by using encouragement and persuasion of speech than law and necessity. For it is likely that he who is held back from wrongdoing by law will err in secret but that he who is urged to what he should by persuasion will do nothing wrong either in secret or openly. Therefore he who acts rightly from understanding and knowledge proves to be at the same time courageous and right-minded. — Democritus

By desiring little, a poor man makes himself rich. — Democritus

The man who is fortunate in his choice of son-in-law gains a son; the man unfortunate in his choice loses his daughter also. — Democritus

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

Raising children is an uncertain thing; success is reached only after a life of battle and worry. — Democritus

Hope of ill gain is the beginning of loss. — Democritus

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

More men have become great through practice than by nature. — Democritus

Throw moderation to the winds, and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains. — Democritus

Soul and intellect are just the same things. — Democritus

Word is a shadow of a deed. — Democritus

The pride of youth is in strength and beauty, the pride of old age is in discretion. — Democritus

Sweet exists by convention, bitter by convention, color by convention; but in reality atoms and the void alone exist — Democritus

No power and no treasure can outweigh the extension of our knowledge. — Democritus

In a shared fish, there are no bones. — Democritus

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

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

We think there is color, we think there is sweet, we think there is bitter, but in reality there are atoms and a void. — Democritus

The wrongdoer is more unfortunate than the man wronged. — Democritus

Whatever a poet writes with enthusiasm and a divine inspiration is very fine. Earliest reference to the madness or divine inspiration of poets. — Democritus

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

Nothing exists but atoms and the void. — Democritus

All things happen by virtue of necessity. — Democritus

Poverty in a democracy is as much to be preferred to what is called prosperity under despots, as freedom is to slavery. — Democritus

Men should strive to think much and know little. — Democritus

To a wise man, the whole earth is open; for the native land of a good soul is the whole earth. — Democritus

We know nothing accurately in reality, but [only] as it changes according to the bodily condition, and the constitution of those things that flow upon [the body] and impinge upon it. — Democritus

The brave man is he who overcomes not only his enemies but his pleasures — Democritus

There are innumerable worlds of different sizes. In some there is neither sun not moon, in others they are larger than in ours and others have more than one. These worlds are at irregular distances, more in one direction and less in another, and some are flourishing, others declining. Here they come into being, there they die, and they are distroyed by collision with one another. Some of the worlds have no animal or vegetable life nor any water. — Democritus

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

Now as of old the gods give men all good things, excepting only those that are baneful and injurious and useless. These, now as of old, are not gifts of the gods: men stumble into them themselves because of their own blindness and folly. — Democritus

The man enslaved to wealth can never be honest. — Democritus

Coition is a slight attack of apoplexy. For man gushes forth from man, and is separated by being torn apart with a kind of blow. — Democritus

If you would know contentment, let your deeds be few. — Democritus

Magnanimity consists in enduring tactlessness with mildness. — Democritus

To speak but little becomes a woman; and she is best adorned who is in plain attire. — Democritus

The good things of life are produced by learning with hard work; the bad are reaped of their own accord, without hard work. — Democritus

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

The person who can laugh with life has developed deep roots with confidence and faith-faith in oneself, in people and in the world, as contrasted to negative ideas with distrust and discouragement. — Democritus

Our sins are more easily remembered than our good deeds. — Democritus

By convention sweet is sweet, by convention bitter is bitter, by convention hot is hot, by convention cold is cold, by convention colour is colour. But in reality there are atoms and the void. That is, the objects of sense are supposed to be real and it is customary to regard them as such, but in truth they are not. Only the atoms and the void are real. — Democritus

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

Virtue isn't not wronging others but not wishing to wrong others. — Democritus

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

Many much-learned men have no intelligence. — Democritus

Men have fashioned an image of Chance as an excuse for their own stupidity. For Chance rarely conflicts with intelligence, and most things in life can be set in order by an intelligent sharpsightedness. — Democritus

If your desires are not great, a little will seem much to you; for small appetite makes poverty equivalent to wealth. — Democritus

It is better to destroy one's own errors than those of others. — Democritus

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. — Democritus

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

Reason is often a more powerful persuader than gold. — Democritus

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

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

Everything existing in the universe is the fruit of chance and necessity. — Democritus

Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul. — Democritus

Moving in space, the atoms originally were individual units, but inevitable they began to collide with each other, and in cases where their shapes were such as to permit them to interlock, they began to form clusters. Water, air, fire, and earth, these are simply different clusters of the changeless atoms. — Democritus

The laws would not prevent each man from living according to his inclination, unless individuals harmed each other; for envy creates the beginning of strife. — Democritus

The whole Earth is at the hand of the wise man, since the fatherland of an elevated soul is the Universe. — Democritus

Life unexamined, is not worth living. — Democritus

There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom. — Democritus

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

To a wise and good man the whole earth is his fatherland. — Democritus

The wise man belongs to all countries, for the home of a great soul is the whole world — Democritus

Moderation multiplies pleasures, and increases pleasure. — Democritus

If thou sustain injustice, console thyself; the true unhappiness is in doing it — Democritus

There are some men who are masters of cities but slaves to women. — Democritus

One should practice much sense, not much learning. — Democritus

The sweetest things become the most bitter by excess. — Democritus

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

The word is the shadow of the deed. — Democritus

It is hard to fight against anger: to master it is the mark of a rational man. — Democritus

Good means not merely not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong. — Democritus

Happiness does not reside in strength or money; it lies in rightness and many-sidedness. — Democritus

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. — Democritus

The wise man's home is the universe. — Democritus

It is godlike ever to think on something beautiful and on something new. — Democritus

Nature and education are somewhat similar. The latter transforms man, and in so doing creates a second nature. — Democritus

Education is an ornament for the prosperous, a refuge for the unfortunate. — Democritus

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. — Democritus

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

Sexual intercourse is a slight attack of apoplexy. — Democritus

Envy is the cause of political division. — Democritus

Fortune provides a man's table with luxuries, virtue with only a frugal meal. — Democritus

Beautiful objects are wrought by study through effort, but ugly things are reaped automatically without toil. — Democritus

People sometimes rationalize their greed by saying that it is all for the good of their children but this is nothing but an excuse they use to make their despicable actions appear respectable and praiseworthy. — Democritus

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

No one regards the things before his feet, But views with care the regions of the sky. — Democritus

The first principles of the universe are atoms and empty space; everything else is merely thought to exist. — Democritus

Man is a universe in little [ Microcosm ]. — Democritus

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