Fragments 41–50
Original Ancient Greek
41 εἶναι γὰρ ἓν τὸ σοφόν, ἐπίστασθαι γνώμην, ὁτέη ἐκυβέρνησε πάντα διὰ πάντων.
42 τόν τε Ὅμηρον (ἔφασκεν) ἄξιον ἐκ τῶν ἀγώνων ἐκβάλλεσθαι καὶ ῥαπίζεσθαι καὶ Ἀρχίλοχον ὁμοίως.
43 ὕβριν χρὴ σβεννύναι μᾶλλον ἢ πυρκαϊήν.
44 μάχεσθαι χρὴ τὸν δῆμον ὑπὲρ τοῦ νόμου ὅκωσπερ τείχεος.
45 ψυχῆς πείρατα ἰὼν οὐκ ἂν ἐξεύροιο, πᾶσαν ἐπιπορευόμενος ὁδόν· οὕτω βαθὺν λόγον ἔχει.
46 τήν τε οἴησιν ἱερὰν νόσον (ἔλεγε) καὶ τὴν ὅρασιν ψεύδεσθαι.
47 μὴ εἰκῆ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων συμβαλλώμεθα.
48 τῶι οὖν τόξωι ὄνομα βίος, ἔργον δὲ θάνατος.
49 εἷς ἐμοὶ μύριοι, ἐὰν ἄριστος ἦι.
49a ποταμοῖς τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐμβαίνομέν τε καὶ οὐκ ἐμβαίνομεν, εἶμέν τε καὶ οὐκ εἶμεν.
50 οὐκ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλὰ τοῦ λόγου ἀκούσαντας ὁμολογεῖν σοφόν ἐστιν ἓν πάντα εἶναι.
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.
41 For the wise is one thing: to know the thought that has steered all things through all.
42 Homer (he said) deserves to be driven from the contests and beaten, and Archilochus likewise.
43 Arrogance must be quenched more urgently than a blaze.
44 The people must fight for the law as for the city wall.
45 You would not find the soul’s limits in your travels, though you walked every road: so deep is its account.
46 Presumption is a sacred disease (he said), and sight lies.
47 Let us not guess at random about the greatest things.
48 The bow’s name is life; its work is death.
49 One is ten thousand to me, if he is the best.
49a Into the same rivers we step and do not step; we are and are not.
50 For those who listen not to me but to the Logos, it is wise to agree that all things are one.
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.
41 For the wise is one thing: to know the intelligence that steers everything through everything.
42 Homer (he said) deserved to be thrown out of the contests and beaten with a rod, and Archilochus deserved the same.
43 We must put out arrogance more urgently than a raging fire.
44 The people must fight for their law as they would for their city wall.
45 You could not find the soul’s limits on your travels, even if you traveled every road. Its Logos is so deep.
46 Conceit (he said) is a sacred disease, and sight deceives.
47 Let us not guess at random about the greatest matters.
48 The bow’s name also means “life,” but its work is death.
49 One person is worth ten thousand to me, if he is the best.
49a We step and do not step into the same rivers. We are and are not.
50 When you have listened not to me but to the Logos, it is wise to agree that all things are one.
About this section
Fragments 41–50 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 5 of 13 in the work, which is kept in the Greek tradition.
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