Heraclitus

On a shirt

Every line we've sourced

1. Same river, never the same water.

   "You cannot step twice into the same rivers; for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you"

   Fragment 41-42, John Burnet, 1920

2. Character is fate.

   "Man's character is his fate"

   Fragment 121, John Burnet, 1920

3. The sun is new every day.

   "The sun is new every day"

   Fragment 32, John Burnet, 1920

4. Nature loves to hide.

   "Nature loves to hide"

   Fragment 10, John Burnet, 1920

5. Expect the unexpected or you'll never find it.

   "If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it"

   Fragment 7, John Burnet, 1920

6. The way up and the way down are one road.

   "The way up and the way down is one and the same"

   Fragment 69, John Burnet, 1920

7. It rests by changing.

   "It rests by changing"

   Fragment 83, John Burnet, 1920

8. Gold hunters dig a lot of dirt to find a little.

   "Those who seek for gold dig up much earth and find a little"

   Fragment 8, John Burnet, 1920

9. Fighting your own desire is hard. It pays with your soul.

   "It is hard to fight with one's heart's desire. Whatever it wishes to get, it purchases at the cost of soul"

   Fragment 105-107, John Burnet, 1920

10. Sickness makes health sweet. Hunger, food. Fatigue, rest.

    "It is sickness that makes health pleasant; evil, good; hunger, plenty; weariness, rest"

    Fragment 104, John Burnet, 1920

11. The sea: the cleanest and the dirtiest water.

    "The sea is the purest and the impurest water"

    Fragment 52, John Burnet, 1920

12. The hidden harmony beats the obvious one.

    "The hidden attunement is better than the open"

    Fragment 47, John Burnet, 1920

13. One is ten thousand to me, if he's the best.

    "One is ten thousand to me, if he be the best"

    Fragment 113, John Burnet, 1920

14. I went looking for myself.

    "I have sought for myself"

    Fragment 80, John Burnet, 1920

15. No road reaches the edge of the soul.

    "You will not find the boundaries of soul by traveling in any direction, so deep is the measure of it"

    Fragment 71, John Burnet, 1920

16. Awake, we share one world.

    "The waking have one common world, but the sleeping turn aside each into a world of his own"

    Fragment 95, John Burnet, 1920

17. War is the father of everything.

    "πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς"

    Fragment B53 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

18. Put out arrogance faster than a house fire.

    "ὕβριν χρὴ σβεννύναι μᾶλλον ἢ πυρκαϊήν."

    Fragment B43 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

19. Fight for the law like you'd fight for the wall.

    "μάχεσθαι χρὴ τὸν δῆμον ὑπὲρ τοῦ νόμου ὅκωσπερ τείχεος."

    Fragment B44 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

20. Knowing a lot doesn't teach understanding.

    "πολυμαθίη νόον έχειν οὐ διδάσκει"

    Fragment B40 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

21. Time is a child playing a board game. The child is king.

    "αἰὼν παῖς ἐστι παίζων πεσσεύων· παιδὸς ἡ βασιληίη."

    Fragment B52 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

22. The finest harmony comes from things at odds.

    "τὸ ἀντίξουν συμφέρον . . . ἐκ τῶν διαφερόντων καλλίστην ἁρμονίην."

    Fragment B8 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

23. The bow's name is life. Its work is death.

    "τῷ οὖν τόξῳ ὄνομα βίος, ἔργον δὲ θάνατος."

    Fragment B48 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

24. The best pick one thing over everything. The many just graze.

    "αἱρεῦνται γὰρ ἓν ἀντὶ ἁπάντων οἱ ἄριστοι, κλέος ἀέναον θνητῶν, οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ κεκόρηνται ὅκωσπερ κτήνεα."

    Fragment B29 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

25. Getting everything you want isn't better.

    "ἀνθρώποις γίνεσθαι ὁκόσα θέλουσιν οὐκ ἄμεινον."

    Fragment B110 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

26. Self-control is the greatest virtue.

    "σωφρονεῖν ἀρετὴ μεγίστη"

    Fragment B112 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

27. Dogs bark at whoever they don't know.

    "κύνες γὰρ καταβαΰζουσιν ὧν ἂν μὴ γινώσκωσι."

    Fragment B97 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

28. Trust your eyes over your ears.

    "ὀφθαλμοὶ γὰρ τῶν ὤτων ἀκριβέστεροι μάρτυρες."

    Fragment B101a (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

29. Pigs like mud better than clean water.

    "ὕες βορβόρῳ μᾶλλον χαίρουσιν ἢ καθαρῷ ὕδατι."

    Fragment B13 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

30. A donkey would pick straw over gold.

    "ὄνους σύρματ᾽ ἂν ἑλέσθαι ἢ χρυσόν."

    Fragment B9 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

31. On a circle, the start and the finish are one.

    "ξυνὸν γὰρ ἀρχὴ καὶ πέρας ἐπὶ κύκλου περιφερείας."

    Fragment B103 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

32. Cold warms. Heat cools. Wet dries. Dry gets wet.

    "ψυχρὰ θέρεται, θερμὰ ψύχεται, ὑγρὰ αὐαίνεται, καρφαλέα νοτίζεται."

    Fragment B126 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

33. A fool gets carried away by every word.

    "βλὰξ ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ παντὶ λόγῳ ἐπτοῆσθαι φιλεῖ."

    Fragment B87 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

34. Even a good drink separates if you stop stirring.

    "καὶ ὁ κυκεὼν διίσταται μὴ κινούμενος."

    Fragment B125 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

35. How can you hide from what never sets?

    "τὸ μὴ δῦνόν ποτε πῶς ἄν τις λάθοι;"

    Fragment B16 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek

36. An ever-living fire, flaring up and dying down in measure.

    "πῦρ ἀείζωον ἁπτόμενον μέτρα καὶ ἀποσβεννύμενον μέτρα."

    Fragment B30 (Diels-Kranz), our translation from the Greek