“Of the bodies in the cosmos, some imitate mind and move in orbits; some imitate soul and move in a straight line, fire and air upward, earth and water downward.”
VII. On the Nature of the World and its Eternity.
On the Gods and the Cosmos
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Sallustius 56
Roman philosopher and writerRelated quotes
Book 4; Universal Love III
Mozi
Context: Now, as to universal love and mutual aid, they are beneficial and easy beyond a doubt. It seems to me that the only trouble is that there is no superior who encourages it. If there is a superior who encourages it, promoting it with rewards and commendations, threatening its reverse with punishments, I feel people will tend toward universal love and mutual aid like fire tending upward and water downwards — it will be unpreventable in the world.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), XX Humorous Writings
Oath of the four Grant children, first used in Ch. 2 : And Continues
The Ship that Flew (1939)

“That body is heavier than another which, in an equal bulk, moves downward quicker.”
IV. 1. as quoted by Florian Cajori (1899)
On the Heavens

“We, in some unknown Power's employ,
Move on a rigorous line”
"Stanzas in Memory of the Author of "Obermann"" (1852), st. 34
Context: We, in some unknown Power's employ,
Move on a rigorous line;
Can neither, when we will, enjoy,
Nor, when we will, resign.

A note on this statement is included by Stillman Drake in his Galileo at Work, His Scientific Biography (1981): Galileo adhered to this position in his Dialogue at least as to the "integral bodies of the universe." by which he meant stars and planets, here called "parts of the universe." But he did not attempt to explain the planetary motions on any mechanical basis, nor does this argument from "best arrangement" have any bearing on inertial motion, which to Galileo was indifference to motion and rest and not a tendency to move, either circularly or straight.
Letter to Francesco Ingoli (1624)