Heraclitus, son of Vloson, was born about 535 BCE in Ephesos, the second great Greek Ionian city.

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Heraclitus

[His Life and Philosophy]

Heraclitus, son of Vloson, was born about 535 BCE in Ephesos, the second great Greek Ionian city. He was a man of strong and independent philosophical spirit. Unlike the Milesian philosophers whose subject was the material beginning of the world, Heraclitus focused instead on the internal rhythm of nature which moves and regulates things, namely, the Logos (Rule). Heraclitus is the philosopher of the eternal change. He expresses the notion of eternal change in terms of the continuous flow of the river which always renews itself. Heraclitus accepted only one material source of natural substances, the Pyr (Fire). This Pyr is the essence of Logos which creates an infinite and uncorrupted world, without beginning. It converts this world into various shapes as a harmony of the opposites. The composition of opposites sustains everything in nature. "Good" and "bad" are simply opposite sides of the same thing.«To God all things are beautiful and good and just, but men have supposed some things to be unjust, others just». 

[His Death]

Diogenis Laertius (CE. c 200) in his 8th book «Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers» notes that «When somebody asked Heraclitus to decree some rules, he showed no interest because the government of the city was already bad. Instead, he went to the temple of Artemis and played dices with children. Finally he became misanthrope, withdrew from the world , and lived in the mountains feeding on grasses and plants. However, having fallen in this way into dropsy he came down to town and asked the doctors in a riddle if they could make a drought out of rainy weather. When they did not understand he buried himself in a cow-stall, expecting that the dropsy would be evaporated by the heat of the manure; but even so he failed to effect anything, and ended his life at the age of sixty». 
Scholars place his death at about 475 BCE. 

[The Obscure Philosopher]

Heraclitus is characterized in the history of philosophy as the «obscure» philosopher, because of the difficulty of his works. Timon the Fliasios (satirical poet, c. 300 CE.) called him «Eniktin», that is the one who creates enigmas. Heraclitus wrote a single book, with the title «On Nature», perhaps divided in three sections : cosmology, politics and theology. He dedicated it and placed it in the temple of Artemis, as some say, having purposely written it rather obscurely so that only those of rank and influence should have access to it, and it should not be easily despised by the populace. When Socrates read Heraclitus book said that «The concepts I understand are great, but I believe that the concepts I cant understand are great too. However, the reader needs to be an excellent swimmer like those from Dilos, so not to be drown from his book». (Diogenis Laertius, «Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers», Socrates 22) 

Fragments

Fragment 50, Hippolytus Ref. Ix, 9 1 I 
Listening not to me but to the Logo's it'is wise to agree that all things are one.  

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Fragment 1, Sextus, adv.math VII, 132 
Of the Logos which is as I describe it men always prove to be uncomprehending, both before they have heard it and when once they have heard it. For although all things happen according to this Logos men are like people of no experience, even when they experience such words and deeds as I explain, when I distinguish each things according to its constitution and declare how it is; but the rest of the men fail to notice what they do after they wake up just as they forget what they do when asleep. 

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