Men who wish to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details.

Meaning of the quote

To understand the world, you need to pay attention to the small, specific details, not just the big picture. You can't know everything just by looking at things from a distance - you need to really look closely and examine the individual parts to truly understand how the whole thing works.

About Heraclitus

Heraclitus was an ancient Greek philosopher known for his paradoxical philosophy and views on the unity of opposites and the concept of constant change. He is considered a significant figure in the history of Western philosophy, influencing thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, and Hegel.

More about the author

More quotes from Heraclitus

Men who wish to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

It is hard to contend against one’s heart’s desire; for whatever it wishes to have it buys at the cost of soul.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

The way up and the way down are one and the same.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

If you do not the expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Big results require big ambitions.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

The best people renounce all for one goal, the eternal fame of mortals; but most people stuff themselves like cattle.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

The sun is new each day.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Hide our ignorance as we will, an evening of wine soon reveals it.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Nothing endures but change.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, surfeit and hunger.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

There is nothing permanent except change.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Couples are wholes and not wholes, what agrees disagrees, the concordant is discordant. From all things one and from one all things.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Character is destiny.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Even sleepers are workers and collaborators in what goes on in the Universe.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Nature is wont to hide herself.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Much learning does not teach understanding.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

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.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

I am what libraries and librarians have made me, with little assistance from a professor of Greek and poets.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Corpses are more fit to be thrown out than is dung.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Deliberate violence is more to be quenched than a fire.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

A man’s character is his guardian divinity.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

The chain of wedlock is so heavy that it takes two to carry it – and sometimes three.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

The eyes are more exact witnesses than the ears.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Justice will overtake fabricators of lies and false witnesses.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

To God everything is beautiful, good, and just; humans, however, think some things are unjust and others just.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

No one that encounters prosperity does not also encounter danger.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Bigotry is the sacred disease.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Change alone is unchanging.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

You cannot step into the same river twice.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

A man’s character is his fate.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

Eyes and ears are poor witnesses to people if they have uncultured souls.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher

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.

Heraclitus

Greek philosopher