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)
The cosmos is eternal in its transformations.
Perception arises from the like knowing the like.
Blessed are those who see the truth with their own eyes.
The elements mix and separate under the powers of Love and Strife.
Man is a microcosm of the universe.
Knowledge comes from understanding the harmony of opposites.
The soul is immortal and transmigrates.
Fire and water produce the eye for sight.
Strife rules the world in cycles.
The divine is within all things.
Birth and death are but illusions of mixture and separation.
Love binds the universe together.
The path to divinity is through purification.
All things change, yet nothing perishes.
The heart is the seat of intelligence.
Mortals must seek the eternal truths.
The four elements are the roots of creation.
Harmony arises from the balance of forces.
The soul journeys through forms to achieve purity.
Wisdom conquers the illusions of the senses.
Contemporaries of Empedocles
Other Philosophys born within 50 years of Empedocles (-494–-434).