Philo of Alexandria Quotes on Nature
Philo of Alexandria was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who synthesized the Hebrew scriptures with Greek philosophical thought, especially Platonism and Stoicism. This page collects quotes attributed to Philo of Alexandria on the topic of nature, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Philo of Alexandria:
“Take pains to know that nothing arose by chance, and that everything in the world came into existence through the providence of God.”
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Attributed to Philo of Alexandria:
“Learning is by nature curiosity.”
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“It would be a sign of great simplicity to think that the world was created in six days, or indeed at all in time; [...] Time is a thing posterior to the world. Therefore it would be correctly said that the world was not created in time, but that time had its existence in consequence of the world. For it is the motion of the heaven that has displayed the nature of time.”
Allegories of the Sacred Laws ( Legum allegoriae ), Book I, §2; tr. C. D. Yonge, The works of Philo Judaeus (1854), Vol. 1, pp. 52–53. -
“If one adds anything small or great to the queen of virtues, piety, or on the other hand takes something from it, in either case he will change and transform its nature. Addition will beget superstition and subtraction will beget impiety.”
On the Special Laws | 99- 101. -
“But some, making no account of the wealth of nature, pursue the wealth of vain opinions. They choose to lean on one who lacks rather than one who has the gift of sight, and with this defective guidance to their steps must of necessity fall.”
On the Virtues | 167.