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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Knowledge requires attention to details, and truth involves unexpected elements and holistic understanding.
This quote by Heraclitus emphasizes the importance of understanding the intricacies of the world and the necessity of recognizing that knowledge and intelligence are distinct. It suggests that while change is a constant in life, everything is interconnected, and one must be prepared for surprises in the quest for truth, as everything follows its own natural rhythm or season.
Themes
KnowledgeTruthChangeInterconnectednessPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a philosophical debate about the nature of reality.
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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Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.
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