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Democritus

Quote of Democritus: The word is the shadow of...


Biography - Democritus:

Greek philosopher.
Born: -460 - Died: -370
Period:
4th century BC
5th century BC
Place of birth: Greece
Greece

The word is the shadow of the deed.
Democritus - Fragments


Note 

Note



Words are the shadow of action, said Democritus. To understand this quote, let us consider that words announce, explain, or promise, but that only action gives them concrete truth in reality: what we do carries more weight than what we say. This raises a question: does a person reveal themselves more through their words or through their actions?


Fragment 145.


Quote source: Fragments

Internet Archive - Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (de) 



Translation

Translation

(French, German)



French
La parole est l'ombre de l'action.
Démocrite - Fragments

German
Das Wort ist der Schatten der Tat.
Democritus - Fragmente



See also 

See also...





Quotes for: shadow


Quotes

Quotes for: shadow


Where love rules, there is no will to power and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.
Carl Gustav Jung - Über die Psychologie des Unbewussten / 





All the diversity, all the charm, all the beauty of life are made up of light and shade.
Leo Tolstoy / 





Even a single hair casts a shadow.
Publilius Syrus / 





Where there is much light, the shadow is deep.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Götz von Berlichingen / 





Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
William Shakespeare / 





Men are the dreams of a shadow.
Pindar - Pythian Odes / 






All shadow quotes...




Quotes for: word


Quotes

Quotes for: word


Don't let words limit the possibilities of life.
Alan Watts / 





The word flies and cannot be recalled.
Quintus Horatius Flaccus - Epistles / 





One word and all is saved
One word and all is lost.
André Breton - Le revolver à cheveux blancs  / 





Words are but symbols for the relations of things to one another and to us; nowhere do they touch upon absolute truth.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks / 





Finding the right words at the right moment is action.
Hannah Arendt / 





The language of friendship is not words but meanings.
Henry David Thoreau - A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / 






All word quotes...




Quotes for: action


Quotes

Quotes about action:


I have laboured carefully, not to mock, lament, or execrate, but to understand human actions.
Baruch Spinoza - Tractatus politicus / 





One should be light like a bird, and not like a feather.
Paul Valéry - Tel quel / 





Often he who omits an act does injustice, not only he who commits an act.
Marcus Aurelius - Meditations / 





I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
John Locke - An Essay Concerning Human Understanding / 





Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.
Hannah Arendt / 





Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
Henri Bergson / 






All about action...




Quotes

Democritus also said...


The self-control of the father is the greatest example for the children.
Democritus - Fragments / 





It is proper, since we are human beings, not to laugh at the misfortunes of others, but to mourn.
Democritus - Fragments / 





Men should strive to think much and know little.
Democritus - Fragments / 





Cheerfulness is created for men through moderation of enjoyment and harmoniousness of life. Things that are in excess or lacking are apt to change and cause great disturbance in the soul.
Democritus - Fragments / 





It is better to deliberate before action than to repent afterwards.
Democritus - Fragments / 





Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not a man.
Democritus - Fragments / 







More quotes...





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