Pyrrho of Elis
Considered the founder of Pyrrhonian skepticism, advocating for suspension of judgment to achieve tranquility.
Most quoted
"Whoever wants to be happy must consider these three questions: First, what are things like by nature? Second, what attitude should we adopt towards them? Third, what will be the outcome for those who have this attitude?"
— from Via Aristocles of Messene
"Things are equally indifferent, unmeasurable and inarbitrable. Because of this, neither our sensations nor our opinions tell us truths or falsehoods."
— from Via Sextus Empiricus
"Nothing is honorable or base, just or unjust; and likewise, nothing is true or false, but everything is a matter of custom and convention."
— from Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism, -300
All quotes by Pyrrho of Elis (152)
We must not say 'it is' but 'it appears'.
All sense-impressions are relative.
I do not affirm that I am in doubt; I simply report how things appear to me.
The skeptic continues to inquire.
We must not be troubled by things that are non-evident.
There is no proof, for every proof requires a proof of itself, and so on ad infinitum.
I avoid the rashness of dogma.
The skeptic's utterance 'I determine nothing' is itself a determination, but it is about determinations.
We must not be deceived by the persuasiveness of appearances.
The suspension of judgment is not an assertion of ignorance, but a state of mind.
All things are undetermined.
I will not be dogmatic even about the necessity of not being dogmatic.
Contemporaries of Pyrrho of Elis
Other Philosophys born within 50 years of Pyrrho of Elis (-360–-270).