Anaximenes of Miletus
He believed that air was the primary element from which all things are derived through rarefaction and condensation.
Most quoted
"When it is thinned it becomes fire, when it is thickened it becomes wind, then cloud, then water, then earth, then stones; and from these come the rest."
— from As reported by later doxographers
"The form of air is as follows: when it is most even, it is invisible to sight, but is revealed by the cold and the hot and the damp and by movement."
— from As reported by later doxographers
"When air is dilated so as to be rarer, it becomes fire; when it is condensed, it becomes wind, then cloud, then water, then earth, then stones."
— from As reported by later doxographers
All quotes by Anaximenes of Miletus (99)
As our soul, being air, holds us together, so breath and air encompass the whole world.
The principle of existing things is air.
Air is God.
Air is the first principle of all things, from which all things are generated, and into which they are resolved again.
The stars are fixed like nails in a crystal sphere.
The earth is flat and rides on air.
When air is dilated, it becomes fire; when it is condensed, it becomes wind, then cloud, then water, then earth, then stones.
The sun is flat like a leaf.
The rainbow is produced by the sun's rays falling on a thick cloud.
Hail is formed when water freezes in the clouds.
Thunder and lightning are caused by the wind breaking through the clouds.
The stars do not pass under the earth, but turn around it, as a cap turns around the head.
The moon has its own light.
The stars are fiery bodies.
The earth is a broad, flat disk.
Air is the source of all things, and all things are generated from it by rarefaction and condensation.
The soul is air.
The world breathes.
All things are generated from air by a process of condensation and rarefaction.
The sun is a flat disc of fire.
Contemporaries of Anaximenes of Miletus
Other Philosophys born within 50 years of Anaximenes of Miletus (-585–-528).