Democritus c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC
Democritus of Abdera was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of the fifth and early fourth centuries BC, regarded with his teacher Leucippus as a co-founder of the atomist tradition in Greek thought. He held that the entire universe consists of indivisible material particles, atoms, moving in an infinite void, and that the perceptible qualities of things arise from the arrangement and motion of those atoms. He wrote prolifically across ethics, physics, mathematics, music, and biology, but only fragments of his works survive in quotations from later authors. His ethical fragments, dealing with cheerfulness as the goal of life and the relation of pleasure to virtue, anticipate Hellenistic Epicureanism. Tradition called him the Laughing Philosopher for his cheerful temperament.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Greek
- Era
- Ancient
- Movements
- Pre-Socratic, Ancient Greek
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Democritus:
“By convention sweet, by convention bitter; by convention hot, by convention cold; in reality, atoms and void.”
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Attributed to Democritus:
“The brave man is he who overcomes not only his enemies but his pleasures.”
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Attributed to Democritus:
“Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold; happiness dwells in the soul.”
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Attributed to Democritus:
“It is godlike ever to think on something beautiful and on something new.”
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Attributed to Democritus:
“He who joyfully does not many things in private and in public is at peace.”