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This post is a list of Wikipedia quotes about ancient Greek philosophers. There are 39 philosophers listed below chronologically by date of birth. License: CC BY-SA 3.0
1. Thales of Miletus (624-548 BC)
"Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition... Thales is recognized for breaking from the use of mythology to explain the world and the universe, and instead explaining natural objects and phenomena by theories and hypotheses... [Aristotle] reported Thales' hypothesis that the originating principles of nature and the nature of mater was a single material substance: water." (Wikipedia: Thales of Miletus, 8.15.21 UTC 00:35)
2. Anaximander (610-546 BC)
"[Anaximander] succeeded Thales and because the second master of [the Milesian] school... Anaximander was an early proponent of science and tried to observe and explain different aspects of the universe, with a particular interest in its origins, claiming that nature is ruled by laws, just like human societies, and anything that disturbs the balance of nature does not last long." (Wikipedia: Anaximander, 8.2.21 UTC 04:48)
This post is a list of Wikipedia quotes about ancient Greek philosophers. There are 39 philosophers listed below chronologically by date of birth. License: CC BY-SA 3.0
1. Thales of Miletus (624-548 BC)
"Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition... Thales is recognized for breaking from the use of mythology to explain the world and the universe, and instead explaining natural objects and phenomena by theories and hypotheses... [Aristotle] reported Thales' hypothesis that the originating principles of nature and the nature of mater was a single material substance: water." (Wikipedia: Thales of Miletus, 8.15.21 UTC 00:35)
2. Anaximander (610-546 BC)
"[Anaximander] succeeded Thales and because the second master of [the Milesian] school... Anaximander was an early proponent of science and tried to observe and explain different aspects of the universe, with a particular interest in its origins, claiming that nature is ruled by laws, just like human societies, and anything that disturbs the balance of nature does not last long." (Wikipedia: Anaximander, 8.2.21 UTC 04:48)
3. Pythagoras (570-495 BC)
"In antiquity, Pythagoras was credited with many mathematical and scientific discoveries, including the Pythagorean theorem, Pythagorean tuning, the five regular solids, the theory of proportions, the sphericity of the Earth, and the identity of the morning and evening stars as the planet Venus... Both Plato and Isocrates state that, above all else, Pythagoras was known as the founder of a new way of life. The organization Pythagoras founded at Croton was called a 'school', but in many ways, resembled a monastery." (Wikipedia: Pythagoras, 7.8.21 UTC 16:24)
4. Xenophanes (570-475 BC)
"Xenophon was a Greek philosopher, theologian, poet and social and critic of religious polytheism... Xenophanes denied that a criterion of truth exists. He is credited with being one of the first philosophers to distinguish between true belief and knowledge, which he further developed into the prospect that you can know something but not really know it." (Wikipedia: Xenophanes, 8.14.21 UTC 21:54)
5. Heraclitus (535-475 BC)
"[Heraclitus has been seen as a] material monist or process philosopher; a scientific cosmologist, a metaphysician, or mainly a religious thinker; an empiricist, a rationalist, or a mystic; a conventional thinking or a revolutionary; a developer of logic or one who denied the law of non-contradiction; the first genuine philosopher or an anti-intellectual obscurantist." (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Daniel Graham)
6. Anaxagoras (510-428 BC)
"According to Anaxagoras all things have existed in some way from the beginning, but originally they existed in infinitesimally small fragments of themselves, endless in number and inextricably combined throughout the universe. All things existed in this mass, but in a confused and indistinguishable form." (Wikipedia: Anaxogaras, 7.7.21 UTC 11:02)
7. Hippias (5th cen BC)
"With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to b regarded as an authority on all subjects, and lectured on poetry, grammar, history, politics, mathematics, and much else." (Wikipedia: Hippias, 7.5.21 UTC 22:16)
8. Leucippus (5th cen BC)
"Leucippus is reported in in some ancient sources to have been a philosopher who was the earliest Greek to develop the theory of atomism - the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms. Leucippus often appears as the master to his pupil Democritus..." (Wikipedia: Leucippus, 7.21.21 UTC 10:35)
9. Parmenides (5th cen BC)
"Parmenides has been considered the founder of metaphysics or ontology and has influence the whole history of Western philosophy... Parmenides prescribes two views of reality. In 'the way of truth' (a part of the poem), he explains how all reality is one, change is impossible, and existence is timeless, uniform and necessary. In 'the way of opinion', Parmenides explains the world of appearances, in which one's sensory faculties lead to conceptions which are false and deceitful, yet he does offer a cosmology." (Wikipedia: Parmenides, 7.18.21 UTC 06:22)
10. Zeno of Elea (495-430 BC)
"Aristotle called [Zeno] the inventor of the dialectic. He is best known for his paradoxes, which Bertrand Russell described as 'immeasurably subtle and profound'... Zeno's arguments are perhaps the first examples of a method of proof called reductio ad absurdum, literally meaning to 'reduce to the absurd'." (Wikipedia: Zeno of Elea, 7.22.21 UTC 23:38)
11. Empedocles (494-434 BC)
"Empedocles' philosophy is best known for originating the cosmogonic theory of the four classical elements. He also proposed forces called Love and Strife which would mix and separate the elements, respectively." (Wikipedia: Empedocles, 7.17.21 UTC 22:17)
12. Protagoras (490-420 BC)
"In his dialogue 'Protagoras', Plato credits him with inventing the role of the professional Sophist... Protagoras also is believed to have created a major controversy during ancient times through his statement that 'Man is the measure of all things', interpreted by Plato to mean that there is no absolute truth." (Wikipedia: Protagoras, 8.10.21 UTC 21:34)
13. Gorgias (483-375 BC)
"Like other Sophists, he was an itinerant that practiced in various cities and giving public exhibitions of his skill at the great pan-Hellenic centers of Olympia and Delphi, and charged fees for his instruction and performances. A special feature of his displays was to ask miscellaneous questions form the audience and give impromptu replies." (The Sophists by W. K. C. Guthrie 1971)
14. Socrates (470-399 BC)
"Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity, from which Socrates has become renowned for his contributions to the fields of ethics and epistemology... A fundamental characteristic of Plato's Socrates is the Socratic method, or the method of refutation (elenchus)." (Wikipedia: Socrates, 8.10.21 UTC 20:33)
15. Prodicus (465-395 BC)
"Prodicus was part of the first generation of Sophists... As he taught both philosophy and politics, so Plato represents his instructions as chiefly ethical, and gives preferences to his distinctions of ideas, such as courage, rashness, boldness, over similar attempts of other sophists." (Wikipedia: Prodicus, 1.22.21 UTC 23:34)
16. Democritus (460-370 BC)
"[Democritus] was primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe... His exact contributions are difficult to disentangle from those of his mentor Leucippus, as they are often mentioned together in texts." (Wikipedia: Democritus, 8.8.21 UTC 11:13)
17. Thrasymachus (459-400 BC)
"Thrasymachus was a Sophist of ancient Greece best known as a character in Plato's Republic... His name means 'fierce fighter', which may have influenced his role in the dialogue." (Wikipedia: Thrasymachus, 2.21.21 UTC 03:02)
18. Antisthenes (446-366 BC)
"[Antisthenes] adopted and developed the ethical side of Socrates' teachings, advocating an ascetic life lived in accordance with virtue. Later writers regarded him as the founder of Cynic philosophy." (Wikipedia: Antisthenes, 8.10.21 UTC 20:56)
19. Isocrates (436-338 BC)
"According to George Norlin, Isocrates defined rhetoric as outward feeling and inward thought of not merely expression, but reason, feeling and imagination. Like most who studied rhetoric before and after him, Isocrates believed it was used to persuade ourselves and others, but also used in directing public affairs." (Wikipedia: Isocrates, 7.23.21 UTC 06:15)
20. Aristippus (435-356 BC)
"Aristippus was the founder of the Cyrenaic school of Philosophy... [Aristippus taught] that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by circumstances to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both adversity and prosperity." (Wikipedia: Aristippus, 7.22.21 UTC 22:43)
21. Xenophon (431-354 BC)
"Xenophon was an Athenian-born military leader, philosopher and historian... In Oeconomicus, Socrates explains how to manage a household. Both the Apology and Memorabilia defend Socrates' character and teachings." (Wikipedia: Xenophon, 8.14.21 UTC 21:54)
22. Plato (428-348 BC)
"Plato was the innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms in philosophy. Plato is also considered the founder of Western political philosophy. His most famous contribution is the theory of Forms known by pure reason, in which Plato presents a solution to the problem of universals known as Platonism." (Wikipedia: Plato, 8.6.21 UTC 22:50)
23. Diogenes (412-323 BC)
"[Diogenes] used his simple lifestyle and behaviour to criticize the social values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt, confused society. He had a reputation for sleeping and eating wherever he chose in a highly non-traditional fashion, and took to toughening himself against nature." (Wikipedia: Diogenes, 8.16.21 UTC 18:00)
24. Xenocrates (396-314 BC)
"[Xenocrates'] teachings followed those of Plato, which he attempted to define more closely, often with mathematical elements... He distinguished three forms of being: the sensible, the intelligible, and a third compounded of the two, to which correspond respectively, sense, intellect and opinion." (Wikipedia: Xenocrates, 5.3.21 UTC 11:24)
25. Aristotle (384-322 BC)
"[Aristotle] was the founder of the Lyceum and the Peripatetic school of philosophy... His writings cover many subjects including physics biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, esthetics, poetry, theatre, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics and government. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of various philosophies existing prior to him..." (Wikipedia: Aristotle, 8.15.21 UTC 12:58)
26. Crates of Thebes (365-285 BC)
"Crates gave away his money to live a life of poverty on the streets of Athens. Respected by the people of Athens, he is remembered for being the teacher of Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism... He taught a simple asceticism, which seems to have been milder than that of his predecessor Diogenes..." (Wikipedia: Crates of Thebes, 7.12.23 UTC 12:49)
27. Pyrrho (360-270 BC)
"[Pyrrho] is credited as being the first Greek skeptic philosopher and founder of Pyrrhonism... Most sources agree that the primary goal of Pyrrho's philosophy was the achievement of a state of ataraxia, or freedom from mental perturbation, and that he observed that ataraxia could be brought about by eschewing beliefs (dogma) about thoughts and perceptions." (Wikipedia: Pyrrho, 8.1.21 UTC 13:49)
28. Epicurus (341-270 BC)
"[Epictetus] turned against the Platonism of his day and established his own school, known as 'the Garden', in Athens... For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to help people attain a happy, tranquil life characterized by ataraxia (peace and freedom from fear) and aponia (the absence of pain). " (Wikipedia: Epicurus, 7.23.21 UTC 22:38)
29. Cleanthes (330-230 BC)
"Cleanthes was an important figure in the development of Stoicism, and stamped his personality on the physical speculations of the school, and by his materialism gave a unity to the Stoic system." (Wikipedia: Cleanthes, 7.25.21 UTC 16:32)
30. Timon of Phlius (320-235 BC)
"According to Diogenes Laërtius, Timon composed 'lyric and epic poems, and tragedies and satiric drams, and thirty comedies, and sixty tragedies and the Silloi and amatory poems'... It has been suggested that Pyrrhonism ultimately originated with Timon rather than Pyrrho." (Wikipedia: Timon of Phlius, 7.10.2 UTC 04:47)
31. Arcesilaus (316-241 BC)
"[Arcesilaus] was the founder of academic skepticism and what is variously called the Second or Middle or New Academy - the phase of the Academy in which it embraced philosophical skepticism." (Wikipedia: Arcesilaus, 4.16.21 UTC 13:15)
32. Chrysippus (279-206 BC)
"Chrysippus excelled in logic, the theory of knowledge, ethics and physics. He created an original system of propositional logic in order to better understand the workings of the universe and role of humanity within it." (Wikipedia: Chrysippus, 8.8.21 UTC 19:25)
33. Carneades (214-129 BC)
"[Carneades] seems to have doubted the ability not just of the senses but of reason too in acquiring truth. His skepticism was however , moderated by the belief that we can, nevertheless, ascertain probabilities of truth, to enable us to act." (Wikipedia: Carneades, 8.11.21 UTC 17:35)
34. Crates of Mallus (2nd cen BC)
"Crates made a strong distinction between criticism and grammar, the latter of which he regarded as subordinate to the former. A critic, according to Crates, should investigate everything which could throw light upon literature; the grammarian was only to apply the rules of language to clear up the meaning of particular passages, and to settle the text, prosody, accentuation, etc." (Wikipedia: Crates of Mallus, 5.27.21 UTC 10:34)
35. Panaetius (185-110 BC)
"The principles work of Panaetius was, without doubt, his treatise On Duties, composed in three books. In t his he proposed to investigate, first, what was moral or immoral; then, what was useful or not useful; and lastly, how the apparent conflict between the moral and the useful was the be decided; for, as a Stoic, he could only regard this conflict as apparent not real." (Wikipedia: Panaetius, 7.24.21 UTC 23:17)
36. Aenesidemus (1st cen BC)
"[Aenesidemus'] chief work, known in Ancient Greek as 'Pyrrhoneoi logi' and often rendered into English as the 'Pyrrhonian Discourses' or 'Pyrrhonian Principles', dealt primarily with man's need to suspend judgment due to our epistemological limitations. It was divided into eight books, but it has not survived." (Wikipedia: Aenesidemus, 7.9.21 UTC 11:32)
37. Epictetus (55-135 AD)
"To Epictetus, all external events are beyond our control; we should accept calmly and dispassionately whatever happens. However, individual are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline." (Wikipedia: Epictetus, 8.12.21 UTC 04:27)
38. Sextus Empiricus (160-210 AD)
"[Sextus Empiricus'] philosophical works are the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman Pyrrhonism, and because of the arguments they contain against the other Hellenistic philosophies they are also a major source of information about those philosophies." (Wikipedia: Sextus Empiricus, 8.12.21 UTC 20:39)
39. Proclus (412-485 AD)
"The majority of Proclus' works are commentaries on dialogues of Plato. In these commentaries he presents his own philosophical system as a faithful interpretation of Plato... Proclus' system, like that of the other Neoplatonists, is a combination of Platonic, Aristotelian, and Stoic elements." (Wikipedia: Proclus, 6.29.21 UTC 12:41)
