Fragments 111–120
Original Ancient Greek
111 νοῦσος ὑγιείην ἐποίησεν ἡδύ, κακὸν ἀγαθόν, λιμὸς κόρον, κάματος ἀνάπαυσιν.
112 τὸ φρονεῖν ἀρετὴ μεγίστη, καὶ σοφίη ἀληθέα λέγειν καὶ ποιεῖν κατὰ φύσιν ἐπαΐοντας.
113 ξυνόν ἐστι πᾶσι τὸ φρονέειν.
114 ξὺν νόωι λέγοντας ἰσχυρίζεσθαι χρὴ τῶι ξυνῶι πάντων, ὅκωσπερ νόμωι πόλις, καὶ πολὺ ἰσχυροτέρως. τρέφονται γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἀνθρώπειοι νόμοι ὑπὸ ἑνὸς τοῦ θείου· κρατεῖ γὰρ τοσοῦτον ὁκόσον ἐθέλει καὶ ἐξαρκεῖ πᾶσι καὶ περιγίνεται.
115 ψυχῆς ἐστι λόγος ἑαυτὸν αὔξων.
116 ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ φρονεῖν.
117 ἀνὴρ ὁκόταν μεθυσθῆι, ἄγεται ὑπὸ παιδὸς ἀνήβου σφαλλόμενος, οὐκ ἐπαΐων ὅκηι βαίνει, ὑγρὴν τὴν ψυχὴν ἔχων.
118 αὐγὴ ξηρὴ ψυχὴ σοφωτάτη καὶ ἀρίστη.
119 ἦθος ἀνθρώπωι δαίμων.
120 ἠοῦς καὶ ἑσπέρας τέρματα ἡ ἄρκτος καὶ ἀντίον τῆς ἄρκτου οὖρος αἰθρίου Διός.
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation of all 130 genuine fragments in Hermann Diels’s Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (4th ed., 1922), made directly from the Ionic Greek and Latin and checked against the printed page. Words of the ancient authors who quote Heraclitus stand in round parentheses.
111 Sickness makes health sweet, evil good, hunger fullness, weariness rest.
112 Sound thought is the greatest excellence, and wisdom is to speak the truth and act according to nature, with understanding.
113 Thinking is common to all.
114 Those who speak with understanding must draw strength from what is common to all, as a city does from law, and far more strongly. For all human laws are nourished by the one divine law: it rules as far as it wishes, suffices for all, and has more to spare.
115 The soul has an account that enlarges itself.
116 All people have it in them to know themselves and think well.
117 When a man gets drunk, he is led by a boy not yet of age, stumbling, not knowing where he steps, his soul wet.
118 A dry radiance—the wisest and best soul.
119 A person’s character is their divinity.
120 The limits of dawn and evening are the Bear and, opposite the Bear, the boundary of bright-skied Zeus.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the same 130 fragments. Words of the ancient authors who quote Heraclitus stand in round parentheses.
111 Illness makes health pleasant; evil makes good pleasant; hunger makes fullness pleasant; exhaustion makes rest pleasant.
112 Thinking well is the greatest virtue. Wisdom is telling the truth and acting according to nature, with understanding.
113 Thinking is common to everyone.
114 Those who speak with understanding must rely firmly on what is common to all, as a city relies on its law, and much more firmly than that. For all human laws are fed by one divine law. It rules as far as it wishes, is enough for all, and has more to spare.
115 The soul has a Logos that grows on its own.
116 All people can know themselves and think well.
117 When a man gets drunk, a boy who has not reached puberty leads him. He stumbles without knowing where he is going. His soul is wet.
118 A dry gleam is the wisest and best soul.
119 A person’s character is their guiding spirit.
120 The limits of dawn and evening are the Bear and, opposite the Bear, the boundary of Zeus’s clear sky.
About this section
Fragments 111–120 is part of Fragments by Heraclitus. This page sets the Ancient Greek original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 12 of 13 in the work, which is kept in the Greek tradition.
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