Anaximander

Cosmology Ancient Greek -610 – -546 401 quotes

He proposed an infinite, undefined substance called the 'apeiron' as the origin of the cosmos and a geocentric model.

Quotes by Anaximander

The stars are compressed air, full of fire, and they emit flames through certain vents.

Fragment A11 (Aëtius, Placita II.13.7)

Thunder and lightning are caused by the wind, when it is enclosed in a thick cloud and bursts forth.

Fragment A11 (Aëtius, Placita III.3.1)

The sea is the remnant of the primeval moisture, which was evaporated by the sun.

Fragment A27 (Aëtius, Placita III.16.1)

The boundless is the source of all generation and corruption.

Fragment A15 (Simplicius, Physics 24.13)

The boundless is the principle and element of existing things.

Fragment A9 (Simplicius, Physics 24.13)

The boundless is the origin of the heavens and of all the worlds in them.

Fragment A17 (Aëtius, Placita I.3.3)

The boundless is that which has no limit, no beginning, and no end.

Fragment A15 (Aristotle, Physics III.4, 203b13)

The boundless is the divine, for it is immortal and imperishable.

Fragment A15 (Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies I.6.1)

The earth is a cylinder, and its depth is one-third of its width.

Fragment A10 (Pseudo-Plutarch, Stromata 2)

The first living creatures were generated in the moist element, enclosed in thorny barks.

Fragment A30 (Plutarch, Stromata 2)

The boundless is the only thing that is truly eternal and ungenerated.

Fragment A15 (Simplicius, Physics 24.13)

The boundless is the source of all motion and change.

Fragment A15 (Aristotle, Physics III.4, 203b13)

The boundless is that from which all things are separated off.

Fragment A16 (Simplicius, Physics 24.13)

The boundless is the ultimate reality, from which everything else derives its being.

Fragment A9 (Simplicius, Physics 24.13)

The boundless is the principle of all things, and it is itself without principle.

Fragment A15 (Aristotle, Physics III.4, 203b13)

The boundless is the source of all the opposites, such as hot and cold, wet and dry.

Fragment A9 (Simplicius, Physics 24.13)

The boundless is the divine, for it is immortal and imperishable, and it governs all things.

Fragment A15 (Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies I.6.1)

The boundless is the origin of the heavens and of all the worlds in them, and it is itself without origin.

Fragment A17 (Aëtius, Placita I.3.3)

The boundless is the ultimate reality, and it is beyond human comprehension.

Fragment A9 (Simplicius, Physics 24.13)

The boundless is the source of all things, and it is itself uncreated and indestructible.

Fragment A15 (Aristotle, Physics III.4, 203b13)