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
Thinking is a sacred disease and sight is deceptive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Heraclitus suggests that overthinking can lead to confusion, and that appearances can be misleading.
In this quote, Heraclitus reflects on the dual nature of human perception and cognition. He points out that excessive thinking can cloud judgment, referring to it as a 'sacred disease', while also cautioning that what we perceive through our senses may not represent reality accurately. This highlights the importance of critical thinking and the understanding that our perceptions can be influenced by myriad factors, potentially leading us astray.
Themes
ThinkingVisionPerceptionWisdomIllusion
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical lecture discussing the nature of reality.
More from Heraclitus
All quotes βThings of which there is sight, hearing, apprehension, these I prefer.
HeraclitusRead
Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.
HeraclitusRead
For when is death not within our selves? And as Heracleitus says: βLiving 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."
HeraclitusRead
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
Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.
HeraclitusRead
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