Quotes from book
On Nature

EmpedoclesOriginal title Περί φύσεως

Empedocles photo

“The sight of both [eyes] becomes one.”

Empedocles book On Nature

fr. 88
On Nature

Empedocles photo

“I shall speak twice over. As upon a time One came to be alone out of many, so at another time it divided to be many out of One: fire and water and earth and the limitless vault of air, and wretched Strife apart from these, in equal measure to everything, and Love among them, equal in length and breadth.”

Empedocles book On Nature

from fr. 17
Variant translations:
But come! but hear my words! For knowledge gained/Makes strong thy soul. For as before I spake/Naming the utter goal of these my words/I will report a twofold truth. Now grows/The One from Many into being, now/Even from one disparting come the Many--/Fire, Water, Earth, and awful heights of Air;/And shut from them apart, the deadly Strife/In equipoise, and Love within their midst/In all her being in length and breadth the same/Behold her now with mind, and sit not there/With eyes astonished, for 'tis she inborn/Abides established in the limbs of men/Through her they cherish thoughts of love, through her/Perfect the works of concord, calling her/By name Delight, or Aphrodite clear.
tr. William E. Leonard
On Nature
Context: But come, hear my words, since indeed learning improves the spirit. Now as I said before, setting out the bounds of my words, I shall speak twice over. As upon a time One came to be alone out of many, so at another time it divided to be many out of One: fire and water and earth and the limitless vault of air, and wretched Strife apart from these, in equal measure to everything, and Love among them, equal in length and breadth. Consider [Love] in mind, you, and don't sit there with eyes glazing over. It is a thing considered inborn in mortals, to their very bones; through it they form affections and accomplish peaceful acts, calling it Joy or Aphrodite by name.

Empedocles photo

“Hear first the four roots of all things: shining Zeus, life-bringing Hera, Aidoneus, and Nestis, who wets with tears the mortal wellspring.”

Empedocles book On Nature

fr. 6
On Nature
Source: Aidoneus corresponds to Hades.
Source: Nestis corresponds to Persephone.

Empedocles photo

“What needs [saying] is worth saying twice.”

Empedocles book On Nature

fr. 25
On Nature

Empedocles photo

“As it has long been and shall be, not ever, I think, will unfathomable time be emptied of either.”

Empedocles book On Nature

This quote refers to Love and Strife, the fundamental opposing and ordering forces in Empedocles' model of the cosmos.
fr. 16
On Nature

Empedocles photo

“The earth's sweat, the sea.”

Empedocles book On Nature

fr. 55
On Nature

Empedocles photo
Empedocles photo

“For one by one did quake the limbs of God.”

Empedocles book On Nature

tr. William Leonard
fr. 31
On Nature
Source: Leonard, William E. (1908). The Fragments of Empedocles. The Open Court Publishing Company. p. 30.

Empedocles photo

“With deep roots Ether plunged into earth.”

Empedocles book On Nature

fr. 54
On Nature

Empedocles photo

“Nothing of the All is either empty or superfluous.”

Empedocles book On Nature

fr. 13
On Nature

Empedocles photo

Similar authors

Empedocles photo
Empedocles18
ancient Greek philosopher -490–-430 BC
Xenophon photo
Xenophon21
ancient Greek historian and philosopher None
Epicurus photo
Epicurus30
ancient Greek philosopher None
Isocrates photo
Isocrates23
ancient greek rhetorician None
Thales photo
Thales9
ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician None
Protagoras photo
Protagoras6
pre-Socratic Greek philosopher None
Pythagoras photo
Pythagoras121
ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher None
Plato photo
Plato80
Classical Greek philosopher None
Hippocrates photo
Hippocrates33
ancient Greek physician None
Plutarch photo
Plutarch251
ancient Greek historian and philosopher None