Empedocles
He proposed that the universe is made of four elements (earth, air, fire, water) driven by the forces of Love and Strife.
Most quoted
"And as when painters decorate votive offerings, men who, having well learned the art, are skilled by their intelligence, they take many-colored pigments in their hands, and mix them in a harmony, more of some, less of others, and from them they produce forms like to all things, creating trees and men and women, and beasts and birds and water-nurtured fish, and long-lived gods, highest in honor, so too let not error deceive your mind, that there is any other source for the mortals that appear in countless numbers, but know this clearly, having heard the account."
— from On Nature
"There is an oracle of Necessity, an ancient decree of the gods, eternal, sealed fast with broad oaths: but when any one of the daimones, whose portion is length of life, lightens with sin, he straightway forfeits his wits, and for long ages they banish him from the blessed ones, and send him to wander, taking on every sort of mortal form that ever creepeth along the ground."
— from Purifications, -450
"I shall tell you a twofold tale. At one time they grew to be one alone out of many, at another they grew apart to be many out of one. Double is the birth of mortal things, and double their failing; for one is brought to birth and destroyed by the coming together of all things, the other is nurtured and flies apart as they grow apart again."
— from On Nature
All quotes by Empedocles (111)
Fools, though they hear, do not understand.
Blessed is he who has gained the wealth of divine wisdom, wretched he who has a bad opinion about the gods.
The eye, the glorious organ, was not formed at random, but by the mingling of fire and water.
In the beginning, the gods did not reveal all things to mortals in a clear manner, but by seeking they discovered in time the arts of civilization.
Love, which is the same as the concord of the universe.
Strife is the father of all things.
All things are portions of the one cosmic mind.
The four roots of all things: fire, air, earth, and water.
Nothing comes into being or is destroyed; only mixes and separations occur.
The purest form of knowledge is that which comes from the senses.
Mortals have no rest from labor and sorrow.
The cycle of the universe is governed by Love and Strife.
From the union of elements, all living things arise.
Wisdom is to know the immortal gods.
The soul wanders through ten thousand years.
All is full of soul.
The nature of the body is the mixture of the four elements.
Strife brings differentiation, Love brings unity.
The wise man purifies his soul through knowledge.
In the end, all things return to their origins.
Contemporaries of Empedocles
Other Philosophys born within 50 years of Empedocles (-494–-434).