Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.
HeraclitusRead
All things are in flux; the flux is subject to a unifying measure or rational principle. This principle (logos, the hidden harmony behind all change) bound opposites together in a unified tension, which is like that of a lyre, where a stable harmonious sound emerges from the tension of the opposing forces that arise from the bow bound together by the string.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Change is constant, and there is a unifying principle that harmonizes opposing forces in life.
Heraclitus emphasizes that everything is constantly changing ('in flux'), but within this change, there exists a rational principle or logos that creates harmony. He uses the metaphor of a lyre, where the tension between opposing strings produces a stable and harmonious sound, illustrating how opposites can coexist and contribute to a greater unity.
Themes
ChangeHarmonyFluxOppositesPrinciple
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared at a philosophy lecture to illustrate the concept of change.
More from Heraclitus
All quotes →Thinking is a sacred disease and sight is deceptive.
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Things of which there is sight, hearing, apprehension, these I prefer.
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Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.
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For when is death not within our selves? And as Heracleitus says: “Living and dead are the same, and so are awake and asleep, young and old. The former when shifted are the latter, and again the latter when shifted are the former."
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Whosoever wishes to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details. Knowledge is not intelligence. In searching for the truth be ready for the unexpected. Change alone is unchanging. The same road goes both up and down. The beginning of a circle is also its end. Not I, but the world says it: all is one. And yet everything comes in season.
HeraclitusRead
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