1001Philosophers

Parmenides Quotes on Truth

Parmenides of Elea was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of the late sixth and early fifth centuries BC, the founder of the Eleatic school and one of the most influential thinkers of the Pre-Socratic period. This page collects quotes attributed to Parmenides on the topic of truth, drawn from across the philosopher's works.

Quotes

  • Attributed to Parmenides:

    “It is the same thing to think and to be.”

  • Attributed to Parmenides:

    “What is, is; what is not, is not.”

  • Attributed to Parmenides:

    “It is necessary to speak and to think what is; for being is, but nothing is not.”

  • Attributed to Parmenides:

    “Thinking and the thought that it is are the same.”

  • Attributed to Parmenides:

    “What is is uncreated and indestructible, whole, of one kind, and unmoving.”