Quote by Heraclitus: “You cannot step into the same river twice.”

Everything in life is constantly changing — including you. The river you step into is never the same water, and you are never quite the same person. This is a reminder that clinging to permanence is fighting against the nature of existence itself.

Heraclitus wrote during the early flourishing of Greek philosophy, when thinkers in Ionia were breaking from mythological explanations of the world. The Persian Empire was expanding westward and Greek city-states were entering a period of intense political and intellectual transformation.

Greek philosopher from Ephesus, active around 500 BCE, known for his doctrine that change is the fundamental nature of the universe. His surviving work exists only in fragments quoted by later writers. He was called 'the Obscure' by ancient commentators for his cryptic, aphoristic style.