NOTHING ENDURES - Thought Provoking Heraclitus Quotes

The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do, is who you become. No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man. There is nothing permanent except change. If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not recognize it when it arrives. Big results require big ambitions. Those who are awake all live in the same world. Those who are asleep live in their own worlds. 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. Because it is so unbelievable, the truth often escapes being known. Abundance of knowledge does not teach men to be wise. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Those who approach life like a child playing a game, moving and pushing pieces, possess the power of kings. To get everything you want is not a good thing. Disease makes health seem sweet. Hunger leads to the appreciation of being full fed. Tiredness creates the enjoyment of resting. Nothing is, everything is becoming. The world is nothing but a great desire to live and a great dissatisfaction with living. All things flow, nothing abides. You cannot step into the same river twice, for the waters are continually flowing on. Nothing is permanent except change. Justice will overtake fabricators of lies and false witnesses. If you do not hope, you will not win that which is not hoped for, since it is unattainable and inaccessible. A man's character is his fate. Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. Stupidity is better kept a secret than displayed. Eyes and ears are po-witnesses to people if they have uncultured souls. All things come into being by conflict of opposites. The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The best of men choose one thing in preference to all else, immortal glory in preference to mortal good, whereas the masses simply glut like cattle. The way up and the way down are one and the same. Change alone isn't changing. Not I, but the world says it. All is one. To do the same thing over and over again is not only boredom, it is to be controlled by rather than to control what you do. Wisdom consists in speaking and acting the truth. Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow. Nothing endures but change. Those who hear and do not understand are like the deaf. Of them the proverb says, present they are absent. What sense or thought do they have? They follow the popular singers and they take the crowd as their teacher. A hidden connection is stronger than an obvious one. Eyes are more accurate witnesses than ears. Religion is a disease, but it is a noble disease. It isn't changing that things find purpose. When men dream, each has his own world. When they are awake, they have a common world. It is difficult to fight against anger. For a man will buy revenge with his soul. The unlike is joined together, and from differences results the most beautiful harmony. The fairest harmony springs from discord. Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy. It is hard to contend against one's hot desire. For whatever it wishes to have it buys at the cost of soul. Greater dooms win greater destinies. What is divine escapes men's notice because of their incredulity. Life has the name of life, but in reality it is death. Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony. Invisible harmony is better than visible. If we do not expect the unexpected, we will never find it. What was scattered, gathers. What was gathered, blows away. It is by disease that health is pleasant. By evil that good is pleasant. By hunger, satiety. By weariness, rest. Everything flows and nothing abides. Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed. Cool things become warm. The warm grows cool. The moist dries. The parched becomes moist. It isn't changing that things find repose. You won't discover the limits of the soul, however far you go. Time is a game played beautifully by children. It would not be better if things happened to men just as they wish. How can you hide from what never goes away? It is harder to fight pleasure than to fight emotion. Knowing many things doesn't teach insight. Much learning does not teach sense. The nature of things is in the habit of concealing itself. Those who love wisdom must investigate many things. The only constant in life is change. Wisdom is the oneness of mind that guides and permeated all things. Bigotry is the sacred disease and self-conceit tells lies. It is better to hide ignorance, but it is hard to do this when we relax over wine. Where there is no strife there is decay, the mixture which is not shaken decomposes. All men have the capacity of knowing themselves and acting with moderation. The unexpected connection is more powerful than one that is obvious. No one that encounters prosperity does not also encounter danger.