Thales of Miletus

When asked what was the most just thing, he said, 'That which is most beneficial.'

When asked how a man could live most virtuously and justly, he said, 'If we do not do ourselves what we blame in others.'

When asked what was the most delightful, he said, 'To succeed.'

When asked what was the most beautiful, he said, 'The world, for it is the work of God.'

When asked what was the greatest, he said, 'Space, for it contains all things.'

When asked what was the swiftest, he said, 'Mind, for it runs through everything.'

When asked what was the strongest, he said, 'Necessity, for it masters all things.'

When asked what was the wisest, he said, 'Time, for it discovers everything.'

He maintained that the world is full of gods.

He was the first to declare that the soul is immortal.

He acquired a monopoly of all the olive-presses in Miletus and Chios, and thus, by making a lot of money, proved that philosophers can easily be rich if they choose, but that their ambition is of another kind.

He said that death is no different from life.

When asked why he had no children, he said, 'Because I love children.'

He said that the most difficult thing is to know yourself, and the easiest is to give advice to others.

He said that the world is animated and full of divinities.

He said that the sun is a fiery mass.

He said that the stars are made of earth.

He said that the moon is illuminated by the sun.

He said that the cause of earthquakes is the agitation of the water on which the earth floats.

He said that the magnet has a soul because it moves iron.