"Men in their prayers beg the gods for health, not knowing that this is a thing they have in their own power. Through their incontinence undermining it, they themselves become, because of their passions, the betrayers of their own health."

Democritus Philosophy See all quotes by Democritus →

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More by Democritus

“[I would] rather discover one cause than gain the kingdom of Persia.”

“Man is a universe in little [Microcosm].”

“We know nothing accurately in reality, but [only] as it changes according to the bodily condition, and the constitution of those things that flow upon [the body] and impinge upon it.”

“Democritus in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy”

“The animal needing something knows how much it needs, the man does not.”

“The man who is fortunate in his choice of son-in-law gains a son; the man unfortunate in his choice loses his daughter also.”

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