Wrongly do the Greeks suppose that aught begins or ceases to be; for nothing comes into being or is destroyed; but all is an aggregation or secretion of preexisting things; so that all becoming might more correctly be called becoming mixed, and all corruption, becoming separate.

Anaxagoras

Categorized in : Might Greek Becoming

Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen. by Anaxagoras

Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen.

unseen glimpse appearance

All other things have a portion of everything, but Mind is infinite and self-ruled, and is mixed with nothing but is all alone by itself.

self mind science

Men would live exceedingly quiet if these two words, mine and thi... by Anaxagoras

Men would live exceedingly quiet if these two words, mine and thine, were taken away.

taken men two

There is no smallest among the small and no largest among the large, but always something still smaller and something still larger.

smallest mathematics stills

Conclusions from observations are unreliable, only the mind can come nearer to to the truth. Thus, in some ways, philosophy is more important than science.

important mind philosophy

Everything has a natural explanation. The moon is not a god but a... by Anaxagoras

Everything has a natural explanation. The moon is not a god but a great rock and the sun a hot rock.

rocks moon god

The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, an... by Anaxagoras

The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens.

space moon science

Appearances are but a glimpse of what is hidden. by Anaxagoras

Appearances are but a glimpse of what is hidden.

glimpse appearance

The Greeks are wrong to recognize coming into being and perishing; for nothing comes into being nor perishes, but is rather compounded or dissolved from things that are. So they would be right to call coming into being composition and perishing dissolution.

greek life science

In everything, there is a share of everything by Anaxagoras

In everything, there is a share of everything

philosophical share

The Greeks do not think correctly about coming-to-be and passing-away; for no thing comes to be or passes away, but is mixed together and dissociated from the things that are. And thus they would be correct to call coming-to-be mixing-together and passing-away dissociating

greek passing-away thinking

All things were together, infinite both in number and in smallnes... by Anaxagoras

All things were together, infinite both in number and in smallness; for the small too was infinite.

infinite together numbers

The sun provides the moon with its brightness. by Anaxagoras

The sun provides the moon with its brightness.

brightness moon sun

The Sun is a mass of fiery stone, a little larger than Greece. by Anaxagoras

The Sun is a mass of fiery stone, a little larger than Greece.

stones littles science

Neither is there a smallest part of what is small, but there is always a smaller (for it is impossible that what is should cease to be). Likewise there is always something larger than what is large.

atoms impossible science

It is not I who have lost the Athenians, but the Athenians who ha... by Anaxagoras

It is not I who have lost the Athenians, but the Athenians who have lost me.

athenians lost-me lost

The descent into Hades is much the same from whatever place we st... by Anaxagoras

The descent into Hades is much the same from whatever place we start.

descent dying death

The descent to Hades is the same from every place. by Anaxagoras

The descent to Hades is the same from every place.

descent suicide death

And since the portions of the great and the small are equal in number, so too all things would be in everything. Nor is it possible that they should exist apart, but all things have a portion of everything.

would-be numbers science

The forces of rotation caused red hot masses of stones to be torn away from the Earth and to be thrown into the ether, and this is the origin of the stars.

stars hot science